


To Feel Again

by RedFoxProjects



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Because slow burn exists, But its definitely in here, Chloe and Rachel will protect her at all costs, Drama & Romance, Eventual Amberpricefield, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Max is precious, Paralyzed, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Well maybe not completely slow burn, but not immediately, wheelchair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-05-28 14:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15050933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedFoxProjects/pseuds/RedFoxProjects
Summary: Max returns to Arcadia Bay after 5 years of being in Seattle. She hopes that Chloe can forgive her for not contacting her. Its not like she didnt want to. Its more of because she couldn’t. Follow Max on her journey through out school,hardships,relationships,and her troubled past.Some of the events in Before the Storm have been tweaked to fit with my story.Rachel is alive (obviously)Jefferson is a normal teacher.Nathan is still a prick just not crazy.And everything else should be good.The summary is kind of misleading so if you want to find out more, you’re gonna have to read it.





	1. Chapter 1

AU Chapter 1.

“Max are you excited to be back?” Her dad asks her as he’s driving.

“Um I dont know really.” Max tells him sounding confused.

“Why is that honey? Arent you excited to see Chloe again?” Her mom asks.

“Of course I am. Its just...I dont think she’ll be too thrilled to see me.” Max says sadly.

“C’mon Max keep your head up, im sure she’ll be glad to see you again.” Her dad tells her.

Meanwhile...

“SHE’S WHAT?!” Chloe yells.

“Calm down Chloe but yes Max is going to be staying with us.” Joyce tells her.

“Fuck that she can stay her ass in Seattle. I dont ever want to fucking see her again.” Chloe states.

“Chloe watch your tone and how can you say those things?” Joyce asked sounding shocked.

“Because when I needed her most after dad died she just bounced out of here and never even tried to call so fuck her.” Chloe tells her angrily as she walks out of her room.

“Chloe!” Joyce calls but Chloe doesn’t listen.

Chloe walks outside and gets in her truck to call Rachel.

“Hello?”

“Rachel are you busy right now?”

“No why?”

“Meet me at the junkyard.”

“What the fuck why?”

“It’s important.”

“Alright whatever i’ll meet you there.” Rachel says as she hangs up. Chloe then drives off to the junkyard.

“I cant believe that girl sometimes.” Joyce says.

“I take it that she didnt take the news so well.” Davids says as he walks in.

“Yea she didnt.” Joyce says slowly.

“It’ll be alright. I think she just needs some time to process this.” David tells her as he hugs her.

“Yea maybe your right.” Joyce tells him. Then she asks “Wait David what time is it?”

“Its 5:20 why?” He asks

“I need to start preparing the food. They’re gonna arrive soon.” Joyce says as she walks downstairs.

Back with Chloe...

“So wait. Your old friend Max,the one that left you is coming back today and is staying at your house?” Rachel asks quizzically.

“Yep.” Chloe says.

“Isnt that a good thing?” Rachel asks her.

“Shit I dont know. Part of me is happy that she is coming back but the other part is angry because she left me before.” Chloe tells Rachel sounding confused.

“Well Chloe you have to look at it in a different way. Cause look at it like this, Max probably feels guilty about leaving and not talking with you all those years ago. She probably changed a little bit and wants to fix your guys friendship. So please at least try to talk with her.” Rachel tells Chloe. Chloe contemplates what Rachel said and tells her

“I guess your right.” Chloe admits.

“Of course im right. Im always right.” Rachel states proudly.

“Whatever you say Rachel.” Chloe says sarcastically.

“So you wanna head back now?” Rachel asks.

“Nah lets just chill here until my mom calls me to get home. Then i’ll know that Max is there.” Chloe says

“Alright then.” Rachel says.

Back at the Price household.

The doorbell rings.

“David can you go watch the food for me? I’ll go greet them.” Joyce tells him and he nods. Joyce walks over to the front door and opens it only seeing Vanessa.

“Hi Joyce.” She says.

“Vanessa my god its been so long.” Joyce tells her as they hug eachother.

“Yea I know and I apologize for that.” Vanessa tells her sadly

“Oh no believe me I understand. It was just poor timing.” Joyce assures. “So wheres Max and Ryan?” Joyce asks.

“Ryan is helping Max out right now.” Vanessa tells her.

“Help? Help with what?” Joyce asks curiously.

Vanessa sighs and moves to the side so Joyce can she what she was talking about.

“My goodness.” Joyce says in shock. She saw that Ryan was helping Max into a wheelchair.

“My god Vanessa what happened?” Joyce asked sounding concerned.

“Can we talk about it inside?” Vanessa says quietly.

“Yes of course.” Joyce tells her as she sees them get closer.

“Hey Joyce.” Ryan greets to her.

“Hi Ryan.” Joyce greets back and she looks at Max.

“How’ve you been Max?” Joyce asks.

“I’ve been ok Joyce. Thanks for asking.” Max replies.

“Nice to hear sweetie.” Joyce tells her as she smiles.

“Is umm...is Chloe here?” Max asks nervously.

“No she left awhile ago honey sorry. But I can call her in a few minutes to come home.” Joyce tells her.

“Oh ok.” Max says and then Ryan cuts in and tells Joyce.

“Joyce do you think you can push Max for me? I have to get the rest of her stuff from the car.”

“Of course Ryan I can do it.” Joyce tells him and he jogs back to the car. Joyce then starts pushing Max as they enter the house with Vanessa.

“Max would you like to see your room?” Joyce asks her. Max just nods as they make their way to the room until they see the stairs. “Excuse my language Max but crap.” Joyce says as they look at the stairs. Max just laughs and says “Its ok Joyce.”

“Hold on i’ll go get David to help out.” Joyce says as she walks away. Max was about to ask who David was but Joyce was already gone. “David? Whos David?” Max asks herself. Then Joyce comes back with some guy with a mustache.

“Hello Max im David. Chloe step father.” He tells her as they shake hands.

“Oh.. step father? I didnt know you remarried Joyce?” She says while looking at Joyce.

“Its a long story hon, I’ll explain at another time.” Joyce tells her.

David then Max up the stairs and brings her to Chloes room. “Max you’ll be staying with Chloe.” Joyce tells her as David sets her down on the bed.

“Oh.” Is all Max says as she’s suprised. They them hear Ryan call from downstairs and they go to him leaving Max in her thoughts. “Wowsers this is Chloes room? Its changed so much from when we were kids. Then again we both probably changed a lot.” Max says as she looks at her legs. Ryan and David then come in the room with Maxes stuff.

“That should be everything.” Ryan says as he dusts off his hands. “Thanks...?”

“Oh im sorry the names David. Joyces new husband.” David tells him as they shake hands.

“Alright thanks David.” Ryan tells him as David leaves. He then looks at Max as goes to her.

“So how you feeling kiddo? Still getting settled in?” Ryan asks.

“Yea im just admiring the room.” Max says as she looks around.

“Yea, Chloe sure has changed hasnt she?” He asks Max.

“Yea...she has.” Max says slowly. They then hear a truck pulling up and Ryan goes to check outside the window.

“Well speak of the devil.”


	2. Tragedy

Back downstairs...

Vanessa was helping Joyce with the food doing some small talk until...

“So what happened to Max?” Joyce randomly asks.

Vanessa drops a spoon on accident and it spooks Joyce.

“Sorry Joyce its just a hard subject to talk about. But wh-“

Vanessa gets cut off as they both turnaround to hear the sound of the front door opening. Chloe and Rachel come in and walk over to greet them.

“Hey mom.” Chloe says as she hugs her. “Hey Step-Douche.” She tells him as she sees him on the couch and he just grunts for a response. She then looks towards Vanessa and goes up to hug her too. “Hey Mrs.Caulfield, been awhile hasnt it?” She says.

“My god Chloe you’ve grown so tall.” Vanessa says sounding amazed and sees Rachel off to the side.

“Chloe whos this?” Vanessa asks while pointing to her. Rachel then walks up making her presence known and introduces herself. 

“Im Rachel Amber, Chloes girlfriend. Nice to meet you.” Rachel states as they shake hands.

“Nice to meet you too Rachel.” She says to her and looks back at Chloe. “I didn’t expect you to take a liking toward girls Chloe. Especially with one so well mannered and beautiful.” Vanessa says as Rachel blushes.

“Yea I know right? A lot has changed in 5 years. Chloe says smugly. “Speaking of which wheres Max?” Chloe asks as she leans over the counter.

Meanwhile back upstairs...

“Dad I dont want to go down there.” Max tells him sounding nervous and anxious.

“Max honey just calm down and relax. Chloe isnt going to do anything drastic.”

“I know but im still scared she’s just gonna freak out on me.” Max tells him

“Max pl-“ Ryan gets cutoff as Max starts to talk.

“Can you please just tell them that im sleeping and that you can get me when dinner is ready.” Max pleads with him.

Ryan just nods his head as he knows Max wont change her mind no matter how long they argue. “Alright Max.” He simply tells her as they hug. When they separate, they look at the stairs and hear voices getting closer to them.

“Chloe remember dont go all out on her ok? Give her a chance to explain herself.” Rachel tells Chloe.

“Yea I know Rach.” Chloe tells her as she takes a deep breath as they walk up. Chloe and Rachel make it to the top of the stairs and see Ryan closing the door to Chloes room. “Oh hey Chloe.” Ryan says to her as he goes in for a hug. “Hey Mr.C.” Chloe tells him as they hug. “So how’ve you been?” She asks him.

“I’ve been feeling a peachy nowadays.” He tells her. He then asks “Now, how have you been young lady?”

“Ehh i’ve been fine. Things could be better but all in all just fine.” She tells him.

“Thats good to hear and god look how tall you’ve grown.” Ryan tells her in amazement.

“Its kind of funny because Vanessa told me the same thing.” Chloe says as she chuckles.

“Really? Thats nice then.” Ryan says. He then remembers a question he had earlier about Joyce.

“Oh uh hey Chloe, I gotta question.”

“Shoot.” Chloe tells him.

“When did Joyce remarry?” Ryan asks curiously.

“Im suprised she hadn’t told you guys about it.” Chloe tells him sounding kind of suprised herself.

“Yea, well you know communication has never been a strong suit for us throughout the five years apart and I meant to ask her about it earlier.” Ryan tells her sounding shameful while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well it was not too long after my real dad died that my mom met David at her diner. Long story short they talked for awhile until eventually they got married...right before my 16th birthday.” Chloe explains sounding kind of angry.

“Oh my...wow.” Is all Ryan can respond with sounding shocked. He coughs a little bit and tries to change the subject. He looks at Rachel and asks “And who might you be?”

In which Rachel responds with “My names Rachel. Im Chloes girlfriend.” Rachel tells him as they shake hands.

“Nice to meet you Rachel. The names Ryan.” He tells her as they let go. He then looks over at Chloe and tells her.

“I didnt know you liked girls Chloe.” Ryan says to her jokingly.

“Yea I didn’t know either until I met her. Now wheres Max?” Chloe says sounding impatient as she remembers her current objective.

“She’s sleeping right now but when dinner is ready, she’ll be down there with us.” Ryan tells her.

Chloe gets frustrated by the news but doesn’t show it. “Yea...alright then.” Chloe says to him. Ryan smiles and nods as he walks down the stairs. Chloe on the other hand is just standing there pissed off. “You ok Chloe?” Rachel asks sounding worried.

“Yea im fan-fucking-tastic.” Chloe tells her angrily as she walks down the stairs also. Rachel just shakes her head and sighs as she walks down the stairs with her. They head over to the garage where David and Ryan are and just chill there for the time being. 

Meanwhile Joyce and Vanessa were in the kitchen still getting everything ready as they were talking about Chloe until Joyce remembered their conversation about Max.

“Wait Vanessa. Do you mind explaining what happened to Max again?” Joyce says to her.

Vanessa sighs before telling her what happened. “A few years back while we were in Seattle, Max got invited to a party.” Vanessa takes a deep breath before talking again.

“It was actually her first party too. She was so excited when she got invited because she never was really a social butterfly like Chloe. So it was a really big deal to her. She thought that she’d be able to finally make some close friends there and be happy.”

Vanessa then takes a shaky breath trying to hold in some tears. “That sadly wasnt the case when she actually attended the party.” Vanessa says as she takes another pause. Joyce then put her hand on Vanessas shoulder and urges her to keep talking.

Vanessa sniffles and keeps going “About an hour or two after we dropped her off, we saw some police cars outside our house.” She stops again before speaking.

“Me and Ryan were confused as to what happened outside until one of the officers knocked on our door. We opened it and he informed us that Max was taken to the hospital with a fatal gunshot wound.” Vanessa stops as she almost chokes on her words but decides to keep telling the story.

“When we arrived at the hospital, we were escorted to the emergency room she was at and...” Vanessa stops for a split second before she continues talking. 

“And we saw her body on the bed hooked up to so many machines. The doctor saw us and told us that they were doing everything possible to keep her alive. They told us to wait in the waiting room since they were getting ready to perform surgery on her.” Vanessa takes a shaky breath before she continues.

“After what seemed like years, a doctor finally came and informed us that the surgery was done and that we can finally see her. But before we walked in,a doctor stopped and informed us that Max...That Max was paralyzed from the waist down.” Vanessa says as she starts sobbing.

“I think...I think you can stop now Vanessa.” Joyce tells her trying not to cry either. Vanessa just nods and continues helping with the food. They settle down after a little bit and end up talking about things again until Joyce asks

“Why didn’t you tell me this over the phone before Max came?” Joyce asks sounding concerned.

“Because Max didn’t want you guys to know.” Vanessa replies.

“How come?” Joyce asks

“Because she thought you guys wouldn’t want to deal with her since she’s...you know.” Vanessa explains.

“Well Vanessa just know that I would never do that to Max even after what happened 5 years ago.” Joyce tells her.

“Im greatful for that Joyce but im even more greatful for the fact that you’re letting Max stay with you guys especially after me and Ryan left so abruptly.” Vanessa says

“William would’ve wanted me to say yes.” Joyce tells her.

Vanessa just looks at her and smiles as they continue working on the food. After a few more minutes they get it done. Just before Joyce was about to call everyone to eat Vanessa interups her. “When did you remarry?” Vanessa asks sounding curious.

Joyce then just looks at her and Vanessa tells her “I apologize for asking that out of the blue but I never got the chance to ask beforehand.”

“Oh no it’s alright Vanessa, you just caught me off guard thats all.” Joyce tells her. Theres a moment of silence between them before Joyce begins to speak again. “Well it was a few years after Williams passing that I met David at my diner. We talked for awhile until we eventually tied the knot and he moved in.” Joyce explains.

“Well thats nice but how did Chloe take the news?

“Not too good thats all I have to say about it.” Joyce says as she remembers what Chloe did to David on her 16th birthday. She snaps out it and tells Vanessa “Alright lets get everybody here to eat.”


	3. Dread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will post 2 more chapters later today.

Joyce and Vanessa call everybody to the dinner table. When everyone gets settled in their chairs,Chloe spots something in the living room. “Mom, why is there a wheelchair in our living room?” Chloe asks curiously.

This question makes everyone freeze for a few seconds. Chloe and Rachel look around at everyones shocked expressions and become confused.

Ryan regains his composure and coughs before slowly saying “I’ll go get Max now.” As he stands up and walks up the stairs. 

Joyce then looks at Chloe before telling her what happened. “Honey, Max has gone through some things in Seattle and she’s changed a little bit ok?” Joyce explains to her very slowly.

“So what? I’ve been through shit also but you dont see me complaining.” Chloe says as she’s starting to get angry. Rachel then grabs her hand and looks at her trying to calm her down. 

“You better watch your mouth young lady.” Joyce demands. Chloe just sighs and nods trying not to argue with her.

Back upstairs...

“Max sweetie you gotta get up, its time for dinner.” Ryan says while shaking her.

“Im not hungry.” Max says quietly. Her stomach then grumbles in response.

“I think your stomach says otherwise.” He chuckles but notices Max isnt laughing. He suddenly remembers the actual reason why she doesn’t want to go down.

“Max, you have to talk with Chloe eventually. Hech your even gonna live in the same house as her for a year or two. So whether you like it or not Max you’re gonna need to talk to her.” He says to her.

She just lays there on her side thinking about what her dad said and sniffles. “Max.” Ryan calls in a comforting tone. But before he can do anything Max tells him. “Alright alright...im ready to head down now.” Ryan smiles and lifts her up slowly as he begins to walk.

Back downstairs...

“Wait its whos?” Chloe asked sounding shocked.

“Its Maxes,Chloe.” Vanessa explains again.

“What happened to her?” Chloe asks sounding panicked.

“She lost all feeling below her waist Chloe.” Vanessa says slowly.

 

Hearing this, Chloe moves back in her seat in awe at the news. “I...I need a minute outside.” Chloe tells everyone. Rachel speaks up and says “I’ll go check on her.” As she walks outside to the backyard. She sees Chloe leaning over the porch with her head down.

“You ok?” Rachel asks as she puts her hand on Chloe back.

“What the fuck happened to her.” Chloe says to her still in shock. 

“Hey its ok, its ok.” Rachel says trying to comfort her as Chloe leans her head on her.

“I always thought she was having a fucking blast up there while I was here living a boring ass life.” Chloe says as some tears start falling. “That was one of the reasons I always hated her. But hey next thing you know, she comes back and she cant even move her own damn legs.” Chloe says in anger as smashes her fist down. 

Rachel doesnt even know what to say as she never really dealt with this kind of situation before, so she just hugs Chloe. “How the fuck did this even happen?” Chloe asks.

“I dont know but we can probably ask her dad to find out what happened.” Rachel tells her as they separate. “Yea..I guess we can do that.” Chloe says.

“So do you wanna go back inside now?” Rachel asks. Chloe takes a deep breath and nods before going in.

Back inside...

Chloe and Rachel walk back in and see that everyones already eating and talking. Chloe then looks over to the corner where her and Rachel were sitting and see Max in her wheelchair. “Holy shit I think I see her.” Chloe whispers to Rachel as they stop walking. 

“Where?” Rachel asks. Chloe then points to where they were sitting before. “Wait thats Max?” Rachel asks in disbelief. “Yea thats her.” Chloe tells Rachel. 

“She’s kind of cute.” Rachel comments which earns a ‘Are you serious’ look from Chloe. “What? You cant say that she isnt.” Rachel tells her as Chloe just rolls her eyes and they continue walking.

They get to the dinner table in which Joyce says “About time you two came back.” This gets everyone’s attention, even Maxes whos eyes just open wide in panic.

“Yea I just needed some time to take in the news.” Chloe says as her and Rachel make there way over to Max who’s playing with her food. They get into their seats with Chloe sitting to the right of Max and Rachel on the other side of her. Everyone else continues talking with eachother except for Rachel,Chloe, and Max

Max starts getting anxious and nervous as she starts sweating a little bit while keeping her head faced down. Chloe breaks the silence between them and says “Hey Max.”

Max gulps before saying “H-Hey C-Chloe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright quick announcement
> 
>  
> 
> •This arc will be completed in the next 2 or 3 chapters I post. The next arc I have planned is Maxes journey in Blackwell. That will obviously be longer than this arc as this arc was just an introduction. Thats also where the slowburn will actually be taking affect. So just a heads up


	4. Reunion

An awkward silence looms between the three of them again. Rachel looks over at Chloe whos just lost at what to say next. So Rachel decides to break the ice herself. “Hi Max, my names Rachel.” She politely says to Max. Max glances up at Rachel who’s smiling at her and greets her “H-Hi Rachel.” Chloe on the other hand coughs a little bit before she starts talking. 

“So uhhh...how’ve you been Max?” Chloe asks awkwardly. 

Max doesnt reply as she just continues to play with her food. Chloe starts getting pissed and says. “C’mon Max dont be shy. Its not like its been 5 YEARS OR ANYTHING.” Chloe tells her while putting a lot emphasis at the end. Max still continues to look down at her food with tears starting to form in her eyes. 

Ryan then looks over at Max and sees that she isnt eating her food. “Max honey, you ok over there?” He asks as everyone looks over at her. “Yea im fine.” Max says quietly. “You sure?” Ryans asks again. Max nods and everyone begins talking again.

Chloe gets even more angry and says “You can at least look at me Max. You owe me that much.”

Rachel senses the anger in Chloes voice and tells her to calm down. Chloe doesn’t listen and keeps pressing the matter. “Its been 5 years and all you can give me is a sorry ass ‘Hey Chloe’. Are you fucking kidding me Max?” Chloe states angrily. 

Everyone perks their head up at the conversation and Joyce steps in to break it up. “Chloe!” Joyce calls from the other side. “What? Im just trying to have a conversation with Max again but she wont even look at me!” Chloe yells. Max starts to tear up and watches her tears fall onto her lap until Rachel grabs her hand.

“Chloe stand down. Thats an order.” David orders.

“Fuck you.” She tells him. They end up bickering back and forth until Chloe brings up Rachel.

“Rachel dont you think this is such bullshit?” She asks as she looks over to her. “What the fuck Rachel?” She says in suprise as she sees Rachel holding Maxes hand trying to comfort her. Ryan then comes over to Rachel and says.

“I’ll take it from here Rachel. Thank you.” As Rachel lets go so Ryan can take care of her.

“Chloe go outside NOW!” Joyce demands and Chloe does as told. “I am so sorry for Chloes behavior Vanessa.” Joyce tells her apologetically. 

Vanessa coughs and sniffles a little bit before speaking. “No,no its ok. I guess we should’ve expected something like this to happen.” Vanessa tells Joyce as she looks over to her family.

“Are you ok Max?” Ryan asks her.

Max shakes her head and asks “Ca-Can you just take m-me back up-upstairs please.” Max whispers to him with tears streaming down her face. Ryan nods and slowly moves her chair out of the kitchen.

Joyce then tells Vanessa “Im gonna go talk to Chloe real quick. Im gonna give her a piece of my mind.” Joyce says as she stands up. 

Rachel then stands up and cuts her off “I got it Mrs.Price.” She speed walks outside to talk with Chloe. When she gets outside, she slams the door shut which gets Chloes attention.

“Rachel why the fuck didnt you help me back there?” Chloe asks angrily.

“Help you? You wanted me to help you after you just completely blew up on your former best friend WHO IS HANDICAPPED BY THE WAY!” Rachel argues.

“YEA, THE SAME BEST FRIEND THAT LEFT RIGHT AFTER MY DAD DIED. THE SAME BESTFRIEND THAT NEVER EVEN TRIED TO CONTACT ME. THE SAME BESTFRIEND WHO WOULDN’T EVEN LOOK AT ME WHEN I WAS TRYING TO TALK TO HER!” Chloe argues back.

Rachel looks at Chloe with a face of disgust and just sighs. “She’s sorry Chloe.” Rachel tells her solemnly. 

“Well sorry isnt gonna fix shit Rachel.” Chloe tells her as she sits down on the steps.

“Well believe it or not Chloe,but she seems like she wants to fix your guys friendship.” Rachel tells her as she sits down with her.

“How can you tell?” Chloe asks.

“While you were yelling at David and Joyce, I saw Max shaking with tears slowly coming out of eyes. When I reached over to comfort her, she kept whispering how sorry she was.” Rachel explains.

They sit there in silence for a minute until. Chloe sighs and says “Well shit. Now I feel like an asshole.” As she puts her head between her legs. “God, I dont even know what to say to her when I go back in.” Chloe says sounding bummed out.

“I think an apology would be a good start.” Rachel comments.

“Yea, I guess your right. Thanks Rachel.” Chloe says.

“No problem babe.” Rachel tells her as they kiss.

“Guess we should head back inside now huh?” Chloe says as she pulls away. Rachel nods as they stand up and go back inside.


	5. Forgiveness

“I told you she hates me.” Max says to her dad as they go up the stairs.

“Max sweetie she doesn’t hate you. She’s just angry right now but she’ll come around eventually.” He tells Max as they enter Chloes room.

“Dad you saw how she reacted. She doesn’t even want me here.” Max tells him as he sets her down on the bed.

“Sweetie look...I know things with you and her are bad right now.” He tells her as he pulls her chin up to face him. “But things like this take time to heal. Its blatantly obvious that she is still angry at you for the events that transpired years ago but trust and believe Max, within due time you guys will be best friends again.

“But-” Max was about to say until Ryan cuts her off.

“No buts. Capeesh?”

“Capeesh.” Max says quietly.

“Alright thats my girl.” Ryan says as he pets Maxes head.

“Im gonna go downstairs ok? Me and your mother will be back up here to say our goodbyes when we’re about to leave ok?”

Max nods and Ryan smiles as he closes the door.

Downstairs...

“I cant believe she acted out like that.” Joyce says in anger as she’s collecting the plates.

“Well Joyce its kind of expected that she’d act like that.” Vanessa explains as she helps out.

“Im suprised your not as mad as me about this considering it was your daughter.” Joyce says.

“Oh believe me I am furious but I understand why Chloe is angry.” Vanessa tells her.

“It doesn’t matter why. Its still rude and out of term to talk to someone like that.” Joyce says as she puts the plates in the sink.

Ryan then comes back from upstairs and enters the kitchen. Vanessa turns her attention onto him and asks “So how did Max take it?”

“She thinks that Chloe hates her still and I tried telling her that it’ll get better over time but I dont think she believed me.” Ryan explains to her as he leans over the counter.

“Do you want me to have a word with Chloe?” David asks Joyce.

“As much as I want to say yes, im gonna have to say no. I think Rachel has it covered.” Joyce tells him.

The front door opens again and Rachel and Chloe enter the house. Rachel stands off to the side as Chloe walks up to Vanessa and Ryan. “Hey Mr and Mrs C.” She says awkwardly. They just look at Chloe giving her a confused look. “I just umm...wanted to apologize for messing up dinner and yelling at Max.” Chloe tells them while rubbing the back of her neck.

Ryan then speaks up and tells her “Chloe, I dont think you should be apologizing to us but to Max instead.” As he puts his hand on her shoulder.

“I was actually planning on doing that after.” Chloe tells him.

“Well thats good.” Ryan replies.

“So umm...where is she?” Chloe asks

“She’s upstairs in your room. She might be asleep already.”

“Wait she’s sleeping in my room?” Chloe asked sounding suprised.

“Well uhh...yea, I kind of thought you already knew considering thats where I first greeted you and Rachel.” Ryan tells her sounding confused.

“Oh...I guess I wasnt paying attention enough to notice.” Chloe tells him.

Vanessa then steps up and asks “We can try to find a different room for her if you want?”

Chloe was about to answer until Joyce came in and answered for her. “Of course not Vanessa, Max is welcome to stay in Chloes room. Right Chloe?” Joyce asked her.

“Well...um yes of course its ok.” Chloe replies.

“Well I guess we held you up long enough and we accept your apology.” Ryan says.

“Thanks Mr.C” Chloe tells him as she and Rachel make their way to Max.

“Well this whole process just moved a lot quicker, now that you’re sleeping in the same room as her.” Rachel says as they walk up the stairs.

“Yea I guess it has.” Chloe responds as they get to the top.

They enter Chloes room and see Max in bed writing in what looks to be her diary. She looks up from her diary and closes it as Rachel and Chloe walk in.

“Hey Max.” Chloe says quietly. Rachel then tells them “I’ll let you guys talk.” As she kisses Chloe on the cheek and walks out the room closing the door.

“Soooo...” Chloes says awkwardly.

It becomes dead silent for what felt like an eternity until...

“Im sorry.” They both say at the same time. They look up at eachother and Chloe walks toward Max and sits on the bed.

“Y-You can go first Chloe.” Max tells her quietly.

Chloe nods and begins speaking “Max I just...I just wanted to say that im sorry for yelling at you down there.” She tells her sounding sympathetic.

“You shouldn’t have to apologize for anything Chloe. It was my fault for not even trying to talk to you in the first place.” Max says sounding guilty.

“Speaking of which Max, I have another question.”

“What”

“Why didnt you keep in touch with me?”

This makes Max freeze as she knew this question was gonna come up eventually.

“Because...because I was scared Chloe.” Max tells her sounding anxious.

“Why?”

“Because a few days before William passed my mom told me that we were going to move.”

Flashback*

“What do you mean we’re moving?” Max asked sounding panicked.

“Max baby I know it sounds bad but your father found a better job in Seattle and we have to move there so he can get it.” Vanessa explains slowly.

“But what about Chloe?”

“Chloe cant come with us honey.” Vanessa tells her.

“But we cant just leave her.” Max says.

“I know honey but we have to.”

“Cant he just find another good job here?” Max pleads with her mom.

“Max...we already tried looking for another job here. You know that we wouldn’t do this if we didnt have to.” Vanessa tells her.

“No...” Max says shakily as she begins to cry.

“I know it hurts Max but we have to do it for the sake of our family.” Vanessa tells her as she hugs her.

“I-I d-dont want t-to move.” Max cries into her shoulder.

“I know. I dont either sweetie but it has to be done.” Vanessa tells her as she starts sobbing also.

They cry together for what seems like an hour until Vanessa speaks again.

“I dont even know how we’re gonna tell Joyce and William.” Vanessa says.

“Are uncle William and aunt Joyce going to be Mad?” Max asks as she wipes her tears.

“We can only hope that they understand.” Vanessa tells Max.

Flashback end*

“Wait so you knew you were going to move already?” Chloe asks.

“Yes.” Max answers

“But why didn’t you guys tell us ahead of time?”

“Because my parents thought it’d be easier if I told you.”

“So why didnt you?”

“I kept telling myself to do it. But everytime I tried I just kept losing my confidence. Then when William died...I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Seeing you so broken like that when he passed...it just made it too difficult to do.” Max tells on her as she’s on the verge of tears.

“I guess that explains why you guys left so abruptly but you still didn’t give me a complete answer to my question.”

“Right...so the main reason I didn’t contact you was because I thought you never wanted to hear from me again.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because Chloe, we moved as soon as William died. I moved when you needed me most. I never even gave you a warning that we were going to leave. So when we did finally leave, I thought it’d be best if you never heard from me again.” Max tells her as she starts crying.

Chloe then put her hand on Maxes shoulder and says to her “You should’ve tried to anyways.” Chloe then scoots toward Max and gives her a big hug.

“I know that now.” Max says as they let go of eachother.

“So are we cool?” Max asks

“Yea...I guess we are.” Chloe tells her

It becomes silent for a little bit until Chloe asks “So I guess Seattle sucked hard?” She chuckles at the end.

This makes Max feel hurt as more tears start to come out.

“Oh shit. I didn’t mean it like that.” Chloe says as she remembers Maxes current condition.

“Its ok Chloe.” Max tells as she wipes her tears up. “But yea I guess you can say that.” Max says as she looks at her legs.

“Max I have another question.”

“What?”

“What happened to you?”

This question made Max anxious and nervous as she doesn’t like remembering what happened. “I dont feel comfortable talking about that right now Chloe.” Max says on the verge of tears again.

“Oh shit...ok my bad.” Chloe tells her

It becomes silent again until Rachel knocks on the door. “You guys done in there yet?”

“Yea. You can come in now.” Chloe calls out as Rachel walks in.

“So have you two lovely ladies made up?” She asks jokingly.

“Guess you can say that.” Chloe says to her.

“Good.” Is all Rachel says as she looks at Max.

“So Max,i’ve been meaning to ask you this...what brings you back to Arcadia Bay?” Rachel asks curiously.

“Yea why did you come back?” Chloe adds curiously.

“Well besides the fact that this was home for me. I chose to comeback here because I was accepted for a photography scholarship.”

“Wait really?” Chloe and Rachel both asks in shock. This makes Max feel bad as she looks down in sadness.

“I mean we’re not saying you bad at photography or anything.” Chloe says as she’s trying to comfort Max

“We’re just suprised thats all.” Rachel finishes.

“Oh...ok” Max says as she sniffles.

“So what school did you get accepted to?” Chloe asks.

“I think it was called Blackwell Academy.”

“Wait you going to Blackwell?!” Rachel and Chloe asks

“Umm...yea.” Max says confusingly. “Is that bad?” She asks

“No. Actually thats fucking perfect because me and Rachel go there.” Chloe states excitedly.

“Really?”

“Yup.” Rachel tells her

“Wowsers thats cool.” Max says as Rachel and Chloe just look at her and laugh. “Whats so funny?” Max asked sounding confused

“Nothing Max. Its just that I havent heard that one in awhile.” Chloe tells her.

Ryan and Vanessa appear at the doorway looking at them. Max spots them also and looks back at them. Chloe and Rachel turnaround to see what Max is looking and see her parents. “Max sweetie we’re about to go.” Ryan tells her as he and Vanessa walk in. “Can you girls just give us a minute.” Vanessa tells them and they walk out.

“You guys are leaving already?” Max asks sounding sad.

“Yea sweetie, we are.” Ryan tells her as he hugs her.

“We wont be gone for that long Max. We’ll be back for thanksgiving.” Vanessa tells her as she hugs Max also.

“Ok.” Max tells them.

“We love you.” Both Ryan and Vanessa tell Max.

“Love you guys too.” Max tells them as she sees them exit.

“Bye Mr and Mrs C.” Chloe tells them as she goes in for a hug.

“Bye Chloe. Oh and you too Rachel.” Ryans says before walking down the stairs with Vanessa.

Chloe and Rachel talk for a little bit more until Rachel checks the time on her phone and sees that its getting late. “Crap. I need to head home also.” Rachel says.

“Want me to drop you off?”

“No its fine I can just walk home.” Rachel tells her.

“You sure?” Chloe asks

“Yea im sure babe.” Rachel says as she kisses Chloe. “Wanna say goodbye to Max first?”

“Of course.” Rachel replies. They walk back to Chloes room in which Rachel says her goodbyes to Max and walks out the front door.

“What a fucking day.” Chloe says to herself as she closes the door. She starts walking back to her room until she runs into Joyce.

“Oh hey mom.” Chloe says.

“Did you talk with Max yet?” Joyce asks.

“Yea.”

“So how’d it go?”

“Well, we cleared the air about what happened today and what happened 5 years ago. So i’d say it went smoothly.”

“So are you and Max friends again?”

“Guess you can say that.” Chloe tells as this makes Joyce smile.

“Good because your the one thats gonna be taking care of her.” Joyce tells her as she walks away smiling.

“Wait what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the first arc of my story. I will be posting a preview for the second arc hopefully tomorrow but if not tomorrow then the day after that.


	6. Snippet

“So this is Blackwell, Max.” Chloe says as she pushes her around campus  
———————————————————  
“Well look who it is.” Nathan comments as he laughs.  
———————————————————  
“Fuck you.”  
———————————————————  
“C-can you t-take me back now.” Max tells Rachel with tears in her eyes.  
———————————————————  
“MAX!”  
———————————————————  
“I cant take it anymore!”  
———————————————————  
“Touch her again and I will fucking end you.”  
———————————————————  
“I felt like I was there again...”  
———————————————————  
“Stop please...”  
———————————————————  
“I love you.”  
———————————————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will start updating again on Sunday.


	7. First Day

Its been two week since Max got all settled in. It was a weird week for Joyce and Chloe as they were trying to get use to helping Max with everything like bathing,changing,using the bathroom,etc. It also was a weird week for Max as she was extremely uncomfortable sleeping with Chloe for the first fee days.But besides that everything has been good. It was Maxes first day at school and Chloe was showing her around.

“So this is Blackwell,Max.” Chloe says while pushing Max around campus.

“It looks amazing.” Max comments as she’s stunned by the architecture.

“I think its more of a hell hole.” Chloe says sarcastically as they keep moving.

“Why do you say that?” Max asks curiously.

“Blackwell is home to spoiled rich kids that think they’re superior mainy due to the fact they have money. Then theres the stoners, who me and Rachel occasionally hang out with,the cheerleaders,and the nerds.” Chloe tells her as she keeps rambling about how shitty Blackwell is to her.

This brings down Maxes spirit as she looks down at her camera. Chloe notices this and tells her “I wouldn’t worry about them Max. Especially since me and Rachel are going to be with you most of the time.”

“Yea,I guess your right.” Max tells her sounding unsure.

“Im actually suprised that your schedule is the same as hers.” Chloe tells her.

“I thought it was crazy too,when we compared them.” Max says as she remembers that day.

Flashback*

“Here you go Ms.Caulfield.” Principal Wells tells her as he hands her the schedule. Max takes it and looks at it.

“If you have anymore questions Ms.Caulfield, i’ll be happy to answer.” Wells tells her.

“Oh umm, no im fine for now but thank you.” Max tells him as he nods in response.

“Is that all?” Joyce asks.

“Yes Mrs.Madsen thats all. Max should be able to start classes next Monday.” Well tells her as both her and Max thank him again before leaving.

Back at the price household...

“Holy shit Max, we got the same schedule.” Rachel exclaims.

“Wait really?” Max asks skeptically.

“Yup.” Rachel confirms

“Let me see it.” Chloe tells them. Rachel nods and reaches over to give Chloe the schedule.

“Holy shit, you guys do have the same schedule. Which means we only got one class together.” Chloe tells her.

“Which one?”

“Science.” Chloe replies.

“Oh dog, I hate that subject.” Max says in a semi angry tone.

“Well im amazing at it.” Chloe states proudly. This makes Max giggle a little bit which Rachel thought was cute. They settle down after a minute and they start having another regular conversation.

Flashback end*

Max snaps back into reality as she hears Chloe calling her name.

“Max?” Chloe calls again.

“Oh what, what happened?” Max asks sounding confused.

“We were talking about your schedule. Remember?” Chloe reminds her.

“Oh yea. Sorry must’ve spaced out.” Max tells Chloe.

“Its cool dude, I was just worried that’s all.” Chloe tells her as Rachel comes up to them.

“Hey Rach.” Chloe tells Rachel as they kiss.

“Hey Chloe.” She tells her as she pulls away. She then goes up to Max and greets her “Hi Max.”

“Hi Rachel” Max greets back.

“You excited for your first day of classes?” Rachel asks.

“Kind of?” Max says sounding nervous.

“Kind of? What do you mean kind of?” Rachel asks, not liking the answer Max gave her.

“I dont know...it’s probably just first day jitters. I’ll be fine.” Max tries to lie but Rachel catches it.

“Chloe probably told you about all the bad shit here,didnt she?” Rachel asks as she sighs.

Max just nods for a response. Rachel then looks at Chloe,who just turns away slowly with an embarrassed look on her face. She then faces Max and tells her.

“Max,dont listen to Chloe. She’s just full of crap.” Rachel tells her as Chloe overhears them and says “Hey.” In a joking manner.

Max giggles a little bit and says “Alright.” The bell rings not too long after.

“Damn already?!” Chloe says. She then looks at Rachel tells her “Alright Rachel, its your turn to take care of Max for the day.”

“What an honor.” Rachel jokingly says as she fake faints.

Max giggles again as Chloe walks up to her. “See you 6th period hippie.” She tells her as she reaches down to hug her.

“Im not a hippie.” Max retorts adorably.

“Sure you arent.” Chloe tells her sarcastically as she goes to say goodbye to Rachel.

“See you 6th period.” Chloe tells her seductively as they kiss.

“Bye.” Rachel tells Chloe as she walk over to Max.

“Ready Max?” Rachel asks.

“As ready as i’ll ever be.” Max tells her as Rachel starts pushing her chair. During their journey to first period they have a little conversation.

“So how did you meet Chloe?” Max asks.

“We met at a small little rock concert in some abandoned lumber mill.”

“Wowsers. Thats one way to meet a friend, let alone your girlfriend.” Max says suprised at the confession. Rachel giggles at Maxes response as Max asks another question.

“So what band did you guys see?”

“It was a pretty lowkey band called Firewalk.”

“Firewalk? They sound cool at least.” Max tells her while trying to imagine the concert.

“Trust me they were. They had the whole place going crazy.” Rachel tells her as she starts to reminisce at what happened that night. They talk for little longer until they make it to their class.

“Alright Max. Looks like we’re here.” She tells her as they come to a stop. “I’ll go tell the teacher.” Rachel says as she walks into the room. A few seconds she comes back out with a middle aged man with a beard and glasses. “You may go back inside Ms.Amber.” He tells her. She winks at Max before going in to take her seat.

He looks down at Max in suprise and says “So you must be the new student here.”

“Yea, my name is Max Caulfield.” Max says nervously.

“Well hello then Max. My name is Mr.Jefferson and im going to be your photography teacher.” He says as he goes in for a handshake. Max reaches over and shakes his hand.

“Now is there any questions before we head on in?” He asks her

“No thank you. Im fine for now.” Max tells him politely.

He smiles and nods before asking “My apologies but do you need any assistance getting in?”

“Oh no im fine. Thank you.” Max tells him again as they both enter. Max pushes her way in and looks around. *Wowsers the environment in here seems so calm.* She thinks to herself. Rachel then pops out of nowhere and asks Max “So what do you think about the classroom?”

“It seems laid back from what i’ve been able to see but then again its way too early to judge.”

“Fair point.” Rachel says as she starts pushing Max to her table. She gets to the table and parks Max right next to her seat.

“Thanks Rachel.”

“No problem Max.” Rachel says as she gets into her seat.

Max put her bag and camera on the table which piqued Rachels interest.

“Max what kind of camera is that?”

“Oh this?” Max asks while pointing at it in which Rachel nods. “Its just a polaroid camera. Its nothing special.”

“How come you dont use digital?”

“Cause digital is bullshit.” Max says in a serious but adorable tone. Rachel chuckles a little bit and says “I guess Chloe was right. You are a true hipster.”

“No im not.” Max retorts sounding embarrassed.

Rachel was about to say something else but she noticed Nathan and the rest of the Vortex club walk in.

“Ahh crap.” Rachel says

“Whats wrong?” Max asked sounding confused.

Max then turn her head to the front of the room and sees a guy and a girl walking toward them.

“Well,well,well, Look who it is. Its Rachel Amber.” The guy says to them as he leans on the desk.

“What do you want Nathan?” Rachel asks

“Nothing, just came to check up on what you were doing.” He turns his head over to Max and asks “So whos the cripple?”

This makes Max uneasy as she looks down at her lap.

“Show some damn respect!” Rachel demands as she stands up.

“Ooooh,someone’s feeling a little feisty.” Nathan teases. Rachel was about to say something until Mr.Jefferson interrupts them.

“Ms.Amber and Mr.Prescott please take your seats. Im about to begin the lesson.” He tells them from his desk.

Nathan turns away and Victoria sticks her tongue out at Rachel and laughs.

Rachel just takes a deep breath and turns around to face the front board. She remembers that Max is next to her and decides to look at her. She sees Max with her head down sniffling.

“You ok Max?”

Max looks up at her and sniffles again before replying.

“Yea im fine Rachel.”

“You sure?” Rachel asks again with concern.

Max nods and says “Positive.”

Rachel was about to argue until she gets cut off again by Jefferson. “Good morning class. I have an announcement to make. Im sure some of you may have noticed that we have a new student on our hands. Please welcome Max Caulfield to our class.”

Mostly everyone in the room claps besides the Vortex club. Max blushes in shyness as she waves at everyone. Everyone starts to settle down until...

“I wonder if she gets free handicap parking? Oh wait.” Victoria says as her and the rest of the club start laughing. This makes Max look down again but this time with tears starting to form. Rachel takes a look at Max and starts to get pissed. She stands up making her chair fall in the process and goes over to their table. “HOW INSENSITIVE CAN YOU ASSHOLES BE?!” She asks with fury behind her voice.

Victoria stands up and was about to reply until Mr.Jefferson breaks it up.

“Ms.Amber go back to your seat NOW!” He demands.

“Wait me?! Did you not hear what she just said?!” Rachel exclaims, baffled by his decision to be angry with her.

“I heard enough as it is.” He remarks. He then looks at Victoria and says “Ms.Chase take your seat. I need to speak to you after class.” Victoria just shrugs and giggles as she sits down.

Rachel goes back to her table as Mr.Jefferson starts speaking again. She looks off to the side and sees Max with some loose tears falling down her cheek.

“Max?” Rachel whispers with concern.

Max doesn’t reply and just takes a glimpse at Rachel before looking away again. Seeing Max so hurt like this made Rachels heart ache. So she tucked Maxes chin up and made Max face her. Rachel then used her thumb to wipe the tears off Maxes face and smiled at her. Max smiled back and quietly thanked her before listening to Jeffersons lecture.

When class ends Max starts putting her stuff away until she drops her notebook. She was gonna ask Rachel to pick it up but another blonde girl picked it up instead.

“Here you go.” The girl said as she hands it back to Max.

“Thanks...” Max tells her.

“Oh sorry where are my manners. My name is Kate. Kate Marsh.” She says as she puts her hand out for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you Kate. My names Max if you haven’t already heard.” Max tells her as she looks down in embarrassment.

“Nice to meet you too Max and I just wanted to apologize for what Victoria said earlier.” Kate tells Max sounding very sincere.

“Its ok Kate, you dont have to apologize for something you didnt do.” Max tells her.

Rachel then comes out of nowhere and asks Max “Are you ready to go now?”

“Yea just one second Rachel.”

“Oh sorry Rachel. I didn’t mean to make you guys late.” Kate tells them

“No Kate. Its fine,really.” Rachel tells her as Max puts her notebook away.

“It was nice meeting you Kate.” Max tells her.

“It was nice meeting you too Max.” Kate tells her as she watches Max get pushed out by Rachel.

When Rachel and Max enter the hallway they begin talking.

“I can see that you made a new friend.” Rachel points out.

“Who? Kate?”

“Yup.”

“I guess you can say that. She seems extremely nice. I mean she even picked up my notebook and apologized for something she wasnt even apart of.” Max points out.

“Well thats Kate for you. She’s a really nice person when it comes down to things like that.” Rachel says to Max as they stroll through the halls.

“Wait Rachel.”

Rachel stops moving and looks down at Max.

“Whats the problem?”

“I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me in class.” Max tells her slowly.

(No pun intended of course)

“No problem Max. Thats what friends are for.” Rachel says politely. Max nods and Rachel starts pushing again to their next class.


	8. Diner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we slowly ease into one of the main plot points of the story.

The rest of their day went by normally. It mostly involved Max just introducing herself to everyone in her classes, which in return earned some weird stares from some people since she was in a wheelchair. Fifth period had just ended so Max and Rachel were on their way to meet up with Chloe.

“Today has been exhausting.” Max tells Rachel as she flails her arms in the air.

Rachel giggles at the gesture and tells her “Well Max, you better get use to it because we’re going to be doing this everyday.”

Max just groans in agony as Rachel giggles again.

They make it to the class and see Chloe holding the door. She waves at them as they make their way to her.

“Hey babe.” Chloe says as she hugs Rachel.

“Hey Max.”

“Hi Chloe.” Max replies

“So how were your other classes?” Chloe asks curiously.

“They were fine, I guess.” Max says sounding unsure.

Chloe then looks at Rachel for a better answer.

“Well she isnt lying except for what happened in first period.”

“What happened there?”

“Nathan and the rest of the Vortex club were being assholes to Max.”

Chloe then looks at Max who just gives a nervous smile in return.

“Ma-“ Chloe gets cutoff as the late bell rings. She sighs and says “We’ll talk about this in class.” Rachel nods and pushes Max in. Rachel brings Max to the teacher and gets her attention.

“Oh hello. Are you the new student that arrived today?” She asked

“Yea.” Max says sheepishly

“Whats your name sweetheart?”

“Max Caulfield”

“Alright Max.” She says as she looks for her name on the roll sheet. “Got it. Alright Max, go ahead and take a seat in any of the tables. By the way im your teacher Ms.Grant.”

“Ok. Thanks Ms.Grant.”

“No problem sweetheart.” She tells her as Max backs up. Max then looks for Rachel and Chloe, who are sitting in the back table. She starts making her way there until she gets cutoff.

“Woah, sorry didn’t see you there.” The boy tells her.

“No its ok.” Max tells him.

“My names Warren by the way.” He tells her.

“Max.” Is all Max says as they shake hands.

“You new here? I’ve never seen you before” Warren asks

“Yea, I recently came in from Seattle.” Max tells him nervously. *Can you please move? Im tired of meeting people today and my social battery is drained.* Max thinks in her head.

Warren was gonna say something until Chloe appeared.

“Looks you made friends with Waldo here, Max.” Chloe says as she moves next to her.

“Its Warren,Chloe.” Warren tells her.

“Yea whatever Waldo.”

“Chloe and Warren, would you take your seats please.” Ms.Grant tells them.

“Nice meeting you Warren.” Max tells him as Chloe pushes her away. He just waves at her and sighs.

Chloe gets to the table and places Max in the in right corner while Chloe sits in the middle.

“So what’d the Vortex assholes say?” Chloe whispers to Rachel so Max wont hear. Meanwhile,Max is taking her notebook and pencil out of her bag so she can take notes.

“They were just being hella disrespectful to her. Nathan called her a cripple and Victoria made fun how she cant use her legs.” Rachel whispers back.

“Fucking assholes.” Chloe whispers as they both look over at Max whos leaning her head on her hand. Chloe then looks back at Rachel and asks “You wanna hang out at the diner afterschool?”

“Im not doing shit later so why not.”

Chloe smiles and nods as she faces Max again.

“Hey Max, you mind if we head to 2 Whales afterschool?”

Max doesn’t hear her as she looks like she’s lost in thought.

“Uhh Max?” Chloe whispers again as she shakes her.

“Woah.” Is all Max says.

“Max are you...ok?” Chloe asked slowly.

Max looks at her and Rachel as they both seem confused.

“Yea im fine. I was just thinking about stuff thats all.” Max whispers back.

“Ok...then” Chloe says slowly

“So what did you ask?”

“I was asking if you were alright with going to 2 Whales afterschool to hangout.”

“Oh yea,its fine with me Chloe.” Max tells her.

“Alright sweet.” Chloe says as she starts paying attention to the teacher.

The class end with Max being hunched over the desk sleeping and Rachel and Chloe are getting ready to leave.

“Man, im glad all she did was talk for the whole period.” Chloe says as she stretches.

“I know right.” Rachel says as she stretches also.

“Alright, you ready to leave Max?” Chloe asks as she turns around slowly to face her. She sees that Max is sleeping with a little bit of drool about to fall out of her mouth.

“Well shit.” Chloe says to herself

“What happened?” Rachel says as she looks over. “Oh.” Is all Rachel says as she looks at Max.

“You gonna wake her up or you want me to do it?” She asks.

“I got it.” Chloe tells her.

Chloe shakes Max on the back and tells her “Hey Max,its time to go.”

Max just moans in response and shrugs her hand off.

“Are you girls alright over there?” Ms.Grant asks.

“Yea,we’re just getting ready thats all.” Rachel tells her. “Chloe hurry up.”

“Yea I got it.” She tells Rachel as turns back to Max.

“Alright Max, have it your way.” She says as she bangs the table.

“What the fuck?” Max asks as her head snaps up.

“Wakey wakey. Time to go Maxo.” Chloe tells her.

“Oh right,sorry.” Max tells her as she starts packing up. She gets finished and Chloe gets behind her chair and starts pushing her out.

They get to the front of the school and head towards Chloes truck in the parking lot.

“So what’re we gonna do at 2 Whales?” Max asks Chloe.

“Eat and talk.” Chloe replies nonchalantly.

“What a plan.” Max tells her sarcastically.

“Lighten up Max. At least you get to hang out with us more.” Rachel tells her.

“I mean, I already have to deal with Chloe in the morning.” Max says jokingly

“Im the one pushing you. You know?” Chloe tells her sounding offended. Rachel laughs as Chloe just groans.

They make it to Chloes truck and they have to help Max in.

“Alright Rachel, can you lift Max into the truck for me? I need to go put her wheelchair in the back.” Chloe tells her.

Rachel nods a shuffles over to Max. “You ready?”

Max nods and Rachel counts to 3 before lifting her. “Wow Max, you’re so light.” Rachel tells her in amazement.

“Thanks?” Max tells Rachel, sounding confused as she didnt know if it was a compliment or not.

“Trust me Max, its a good thing.” Rachel assures her as she puts Max in the middle of the truck. She then asks Chloe “You done?”

“Yea just a second.” Chloe tells her as she get the chair in. “Got it.” Chloe yells out as she runs to the driver seat. “You guys ready?”

They both nod and Chloe begins driving to 2 Whales. During the drive there, Rachel is staring out the window while having a conversation Chloe but Max chooses to stay quiet. She gets bored and takes her camera out. She looks at it and starts fiddling around with it.

Rachel notices and asks “Max,what’re you doing?”

“Oh nothing.” Max tells her as she puts her camera down.

“Doesn’t look like it.” Rachel tells her

Max just looks away shyly and turns red. Rachel comes up with an idea . “Hey Max, why dont you take a picture of me?”

“Right now?” Max asks confusingly

“Yup.” Rachel confirms

Max picks up her camera and aims it at Rachel, whos posing next to the window. Max takes the picture and they wait for it to develop. When its done, Max takes the photo out and Rachel scoots over to look at it.

“I look like a model.” Rachel states proudly. “This picture is amazing, Max.” Rachel tells her.

“Im glad you like it.” Max tells her.

“Im glad you guys are using my truck for a photoshoot.” Chloe remarks sarcastically. Rachel looks at her and sticks her tongue out.

They finally get to the diner and Chloe parks the truck right out front. “Alright ladies, we’re here.” Chloe announces. She notices that the entrance isn’t exactly wheelchair accessible and if they were to get Max in, it’d be cramped. “Oh shit umm...” Chloe says.

“Whats the problem?” Rachel asks.

“I dont think Maxes chair can fit in there.” Chloe tells her.

“Shit that is a problem.” Rachel says while stroking her chin.

“So what’re we gonna do?” Max asks.

“U gonna be alright with one of us carrying you in?” Chloe asks

“I mean...I guess?” Max tells her sounding unsure.

Chloe nods and looks at Rachel. “Rachel can you go inside and get us a booth?”

Rachel nods and walks into the diner.

“Alright Max,you ready?”

“Yea.”

Chloe slides Max over,so she can lift her up and carry her bridal style as she kicks her door to close it. “You ok?” Chloe asks her

Max nods in response and Chloe starts walking to the diner.

They get inside and spot Rachel in the corner booth. They make their way toward her and Chloe sits Max down next to Rachel while she sits on the other side.

“Its been so long since that last time I was here.” Max comments as she looks around.

“Yea,well as you can see nothing has changed.” Chloe adds as Joyce comes up to them.

“Hey girls.” She greets.

“Hey mom.”

“Hi Joyce.” Both Rachel and Max say

“What’re you three trouble makers up to this afternoon?”

“Nothing. We’re just hungry thats all.” Chloe tells her.

Joyce just looks at Rachel and Max for a better answer and they just shrug.

She sighs and asks “So what would you guys like?”

“The usual.” Chloe orders as Joyce writes it down.

“I’ll have the eggs and bacon.” Rachel orders.

“And for you Max?” Joyce asks

“Can I have the nuggets and fries please.” Max tells her as Joyce chuckles.

“Still ordering from the kids menu I see.” Joyce tells her as she chuckles again before walking away.

Max turns and looks at Chloe and Rachel who are just laughing.

“Whats funny?”

“Nothing Max.” Chloe assures her as she laughs again.

Max turns to look at Rachel whos trying her best not to laugh and tells Max “Really Max,its nothing.” As she busts out laughing with Chloe.

Max just crosses her arms and pouts in her seat while she waits for her food. 10 minutes later...Joyce returns with their food.

“Here you go girls.” She tells them as she puts their plates down.

“Thanks mom.”

“Yea thanks Joyce.” Rachel tells her as Joyce looks over at Max and sees that her head was down.

“Max honey, do you need something?” Joyce asked sounding worried

Chloe and Rachel turned their attention over to Max and get worried too.

“Max?” Chloe calls.

Rachel goes in and tries to shake her out of it but it doesn’t work.

“Rachel move over for me real quick.” Joyce tells her and does as told. Joyce then moves into the booth and tries to get Maxes attention back.

“Max are you ok?” Joyce asks

Max doesn’t respond and keeps her head facing down.

Joyce moved Maxes head up to see what wrong. When she looked at Max, she saw tears falling from her eyes but it wasnt like she was crying. It was more like she was frozen in fear. Joyce tries to put her hand on Maxes but Max pulls her hand back as if Joyce was trying to attack her.

“Let me try something.” Chloe suggests from the other side. Joyce moves so Chloe can take her spot. “Max? Can you hear me?”

Max nods slowly.

“Ok thats good.” Chloe says as she takes Maxes hand.

“C-Chloe?” Max says slowly.

“Yea its me,Max.” Chloe tells her as she slowly strokes her hand.

“Why are you here?” Max asked

Chloe turns around in confusion and sees that Rachel and Joyce are just as confused as she is.

“What do you mean?” Chloe asks her.

“How are you here at the party?” Max replies.

Joyce put her hand to her mouth in shock as she remembered what Vanessa told her.

“What party?” Chloe asks sounding more confused. Joyce gently tugs on Chloe to let her have a go at it. Chloe backs away amd Joyce sits in the booth.

“Max hon,you arent there right now. That was a long time ago. You’re here at the the diner with Rachel and Chloe remember.” Joyce tells her as she looks Max in the eyes.

“I am?”

“Yes hon,you are. Please come back to us.” Joyce tells her. Max starts shaking her head and realizes where she is. She looks around seeing Joyce,Chloe,and Rachel with worried expressions on their faces.

She feels her head and notices she sweating and feels some tears as well.

“Joyce, can you take me outside? I need a minute.” Max tells her quickly. Joyce nods and picks her up. “Max.” Chloe calls but its too late as Joyce takes her out. Joyce sits Max on a bench in front of the diner and asks “Are you ok,Max?”

Max is panting heavily and she’s still trying to grasp the fact she’s not at the party anymore. “Can you get me a water?” Max asks sounding anxious. Joyce hurries back inside and rushes to get a water.

“Mom,what the hell happened? What party is she talking about? And how do you know about it?” Chloe asks sounding angry.

“I’ll explain it later at home.” Joyce tells her as she rushes outside. She hands Max her water and Max chugs while barely being able to hold the glass.

“Th-Thank you.” Max tells Joyce as she hands the cup back to her.

“No problem sweetie. Do you want to leave now?”

Max nods and Joyce heads back inside.

Back inside...

“What do you think made Max act like that?” Rachel asked with some concern.

“I dont know but my mom better explain when we get home.” Chloe tells her.

“I dont get it. What party is Max talking about?”

“Exactly and what the hell happened there anyways?” Chloe asks as she strokes her chin. Joyce walks in and tells Chloe “Chloe, Max wants to leave now.”

“Wait what?”

“She wants to leave,Chloe.” Joyce tells her again.

“We’ll be out in a second. Can you pack our food as leftovers?”

Joyce nods and heads to the kitchen to grab some bags. Chloe and Rachel step outside and see Max staring off into the distance on the bench. “Max?” Chloe calls. Max turns around and sees Chloe and Rachel staring at her. “Oh hey.” Max says nervously.

“What happened in there?” Rachel asked

“Nothing,I was just overthinking some things.” Max says hoping they buy her lie...they dont.

“Max thats bullshit. What happened?” Chloe asked as she starts to get angry.

“Chloe relax.” Rachel tells her,trying to calm her down.

“No fuck that. We have a right to know.” She tells Rachel as she looks back down at Max. “Max,what party were you talking about?”

Max goes wide eyed and tells her “How do yo-“ She gets cut off as Joyce comes back out with their food.

“Here you go girls.” She tells them as she hands the bag to Chloe

“Bad timing mom.” Chloe tells her as she takes the bag.

“No such thing.” Joyce tells her as she looks down at Max.

“Max sweetie,do you anything else?”

“No thank you.” Max tells her politely.

Joyce gives her a smile and walks back into the diner.

“We’ll finish this conversation in the truck.” Chloe tells her as she walks to her truck.

“She’s mad at me isnt she?” Max asks with a sad tone

“She is...but not at you though.” Rachel tells her trying to comfort her.

“Whatever.” Max says as the truck pulls up.

Chloe opens the door and motions for them to get in. Rachel lifts Max up and brings her into the truck and they drive off.


	9. Brief look into the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff, some angst, some plot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very happy with this chapter to be completely honest. So sorry if it seems more sloppy than my usual chapter.

“So what happened Max?” Chloe asked sounding impatient.

“Its was nothing Chloe.” 

“Thats such bullshit Max and you know it!” Chloe yells as she hits the steering wheel. This scares Max as flinches and Rachel notices.

“Chloe just relax.” Rachel tells her.

“How can I relax when one of my bestfriends had some sort of panic attack and she wont even talk to me about it!” Chloe yells back

“Because I didnt have one Chloe!” Max yells.

“Max stop lying!” Chloe demands.

“Im not!”

“BOTH OF YOU CALM YOUR SHIT!” Rachel yells and the whole truck goes quiet.

“Max,we know your lying. Can you please just tell us the truth?” Rachel asked politely.

“I dont wanna talk about it.” Max tells her as she sighs.

“Alright fine but whenever you do feel like talking about it. Tell us please.” Rachel says while holding her hand. Max nods and the rest of the ride to Chloes house was silent. When they got there,Chloe was still clearly upset as she slammed her door shut without alerting Max or Rachel and went inside the house.

“This is my fault.” Max says feeling guilty.

“Its not Max.” Rachel tells her.

“Im the one that made her angry.”

“She’s not angry Max.” Rachel tells her as she makes Max face her. “She’s just worried about you.”

Max thinks about what Rachel told her and just nods in agreement. “Can you get my chair for me?”

“Yea gimme a minute.” Rachel says as she hops out the truck. She get Maxes chair from the trunk and pushes the chair back to Max.

“Alright Max, you ready?”

Max nods

Rachel lifts her and places her gently onto the chair. She starts pushing her inside and they look for Chloe.

“She’s upstairs probably.” Max says

“Yea she probably is.” Rachel agrees

“Im gonna go see what she’s doing.” Rachel tells Max and Max nods in response.

She walks upstairs and goes into Chloes room. She sees Chloe with her head down in deep thought. Rachel knocks on the door and makes her presence known.

“Hey.” Rachel says.

“Hey Rachel.”

“Whats wrong?”

“Im worried about her, y’know.”

“I know.” Rachel says as she sits next to her.

“How come she wont tell us what happened?” Chloe asked sounding frustrated and confused.

“Maybe its too hard for her to talk about for now.” Rachel suggests

“Yea maybe but I just want to know what happened.” Chloe says as she puts her head down. “Just seeing her frozen in fear like that back at the diner...it makes me pissed knowing something happened back in Seattle and she won’t talk about it.” Chloe admits.

“Just settle down babe. Max will tell us eventually, when she’s ready. And remember your mom said she’ll tell us when she gets home.” Rachel tells Chloe as she hugs her. “Just try not to think about it for now.” Rachel says as they separate.

“I’ll try but its still hard not to.”

“Its ok. As long as your trying.” Rachel tells her as she goes in for a kiss. Chloe happily gives her one as she puts her hand on Rachels face. They start kissing more intimately as Chloe pins Rachel down onto the bed. “Someone wants to play rough.” Rachel teases. “You have no idea.” Chloe says as she kisses Rachel passionately.

Back downstairs...

Max is in the living room with the tv on for background noise as she thinks about Chloe.

“I hope she isnt too upset with me.” Max thinks to herself. “I didnt think she’d be that angry about the whole thing. Maybe I should tell them what happened. But I also dont want to relive that again. Oh my dog! This is so confusing.” She thinks in her head.

“I wonder whats taking Rachel so long.” She thinks again as she moves her chair. She starts pushing herself to the stairs and calls out for Rachel.

“Rachel?!” She calls from below. She gets no response. She tries to call for Chloe next. “Chloe?!” Again no response. Her stomach starts to rumble as she didn’t get to eat earlier.

“Well thats just great.” She says sarcastically. She gives up on trying to call them and makes her way into the kitchen. She begins looking for something to eat, she starts off by opening the fridge. “Lets see here...” She says to herself as she looks around. She doesn’t find anything since the fridge is mostly packed with frozen food,vegetables,and some drinks. So she backs up and notices a cookie jar on top. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She says sarcastically. She tries to figure out a way to get the cookie jar down without breaking it. 

“Think Max, think.” She chants to herself. She sits there for a few minutes thinking of a way to get it but eventually gives up. “Im soooo hungry.” She says as her stomach rumbles again. She opens the freezer and finds a tub of ice cream. “I guess this will have to do.” She tells herself as she gets a spoon and pushes herself to the living room.

Back upstairs...

Chloe and Rachel were having an intense make out session. “We *kiss* forgot *kiss about *kiss* Max *kiss*” Chloe says as Rachel gives her a barrage of kisses. Rachel gets off of her and says “Oh shit.” They start fixing their clothes and go downstairs. “Max?” Chloe calls. Rachel comes up behind her and calls Maxes name also “Max?”

“Where the hell...” Chloe was about to ask until she found her. She sees Max passed out on the couch with a empty tub of ice cream right next her. Chloe walks over to Max and notices she was watching tv. “Did you find her?” She hears Rachel ask as she walks into the living room. 

Chloe signals for Rachel to be quiet as she turns the tv off. “How long were we up there for?” Rachel whispers

“Shit I dont know.”

“Dang she ate the whole thing.” Rachel whispers in amazement.

“That was my favorite flavor.” Chloe whispers in anger. Rachel giggles in response and tells her “Lets bring her to bed.”

Chloe sighs and says “Alright.” Rachel picks Max up and Chloe puts her wheelchair in the corner. “You go tuck her in. I”ll clean up the mess here.” Chloe tells Rachel. 

Rachel nods and walks up the stairs. She enters Chloes room and sets Max down gently on to the bed. She adjusts her legs and puts the blanket over her. She makes sure that Max is tucked perfectly before leaving the room and closes the door. She walks downstairs and sees Chloe staring at a journal. “What’re you doing?” Rachel asks

“Max left her personal journal down here.”

“And?”

“I was wondering...if you wanted to read it with me?” Chloe asks mischievously

“Chloe, isnt this an invasion of personal privacy?”

“Yea but think about it Rachel. This can have the answers to what Max wont tell us.”

“Butt it’s extremely fucked up Chloe. What if she put shit in there that she doesn’t want us to know?”

“Then we act like we didn’t read any of it.” Chloe tells her.

“Chloe no.”

“Rachel yes.”

“We are not going to read Maxes diary.”

“But whyyyyyy?”

“I just told you why.”

“Fuck it then.” Chloe says as she tosses it back down. “You’re no fun.” Chloe pouts as she sits on the couch.

“Ughhhh.” Rachel groans as she sits next to her.

“Are you mad?”

“Not gonna lie I am but I think you can make me not mad.” Chloe tells her seductively.

“I guess that can be arranged.” Rachel says as she jumps onto Chloe.

They have another make out session for another 10 minutes until they hear the front door start to open. Rachel jumps off of Chloe again and they adjust their clothes/hair as they see Joyce walk in.

“Hey you two.” Joyce greets

“Hey mom.” Chloe says sounding a bit out of breath. 

“Yea hi Joyce” Rachel says sounding out of breath also.

“Are you two alright?”

“Yea, we’re just tired thats all.” Chloe says while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Well ok then.” Joyce says as she puts her bag down. “Wheres Max?” She asks

“Oh, we put her to bed already.” Rachel tells her 

“Thats nice of you two even though its only 7 o’clock but still...nice.”

“So what happened after we left?” Chloe asked

“Nothing much really. I had to explain to some of the customers with what happened with Max but other than that, nothing.”

“Speaking of Max...you gonna tell us about the party.” Chloe asked getting straight to the point.

“I was hoping you’d forget about that.” Joyce says while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Yea well I have a good memory mom.” Chloe tells her sounding impatient.

Joyce sighs before asking “Are you two sure Max is sleeping?”

They nod.

“Alright sit over here with me.” Joyce tells them as she pulls a chair from the dinner table.

“You two obviously know that Max wasnt the social type right?”

They nod

“Alright well it happened a few years back. I dont know the exact amount but I know it wasnt recent.” Joyce takes a little pause before speaking again. “Max came home from school with an invite to a party. She was under the impression that this party would be some sort of fresh start for her social life. Long story short, when she got there...things turned bad quickly.”

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked sounding interested.

“From what Vanessa told me, Something happened to Max at the party and it sent her to the emergency room hence why she needs a wheelchair.” Joyce explains as she drinks her coffee.

“So some asshole just shot her?” Chloe asked, starting to get infuriated.

“Yes Chloe.” Joyce says as she looks at her coffee.

“What the fuck?” Chloe say out loud sounding confused.

Rachel on the other hand is stunned by the revelation. “It makes sense now.” She thinks in her head.

“I know you two are Maxes closest friends but do not tell her that I told you this.” Joyce say slowly.

Chloe takes a deep breath to calm down and nods before standing up and walks to her room leaving Joyce andRachel in silence.


	10. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July

“I should go check on her.” Rachel tells Joyce as she stands up. 

Joyce grabs her arn though and tells her “She’s going to be fine Rachel. She just needs sometime to process this.” Joyce tells her as Rachel sits down. “My question is, how are you feeling about this?”

“I dont know honestly.” Rachel says as she’s still trying to process the news. “I had a feeling it was something like this but for it to happen to Max. Its so messed up. She seems so sweet,nice,and caring. I just don’t understand how someone can do that to her.” Rachel tells Joyce while putting her hand on her head.

“Believe me honey when Vanessa first told me, I was just as shocked as you and Chloe.”

“I never really talked to Chloe about this but what was Max like before...you know?”

“She was such a sweetheart. I mean she still is but back then she was always so kind. When her parents visited, her and Chloe were damn near inseparable. They’d always be playing pirates in the backyard or be playing with Maxes camera.”

“Sounded pretty amazing.” Rachel comments as she imagines a little Chloe and Max.

“It was, until William passed and they had to move for five years. Chloe obviously had a hatred toward their whole family at the time but it ended up coming down to just Max. Thankfully you came into to Chloes life not too long after. Otherwise I dont know what would’ve happened to her.”

Rachel doesn’t respond to that as she looks down in thought. What would’ve happened to Chloe if she wasnt there? What would’ve happened to herself if Chloe wasnt there for her?

Joyce interrupts her thoughts and tell Rachel “Im gonna head to my room. Just holler if you need anything, Rachel.” 

“Oh ok, goodnight Joyce.” 

“Night Rachel.” Joyce tells her before walking up the stairs.

Back upstairs...

Chloe enters her room and sees that Max is still sleeping. She pulls a chair from her desk and sets it down next to Max. Chloe sits down and stares at the sleeping Max. She sits there thinking about what Joyce told her and says to herself “Who did this to you?” 

She notices Max stir a little bit and her eyes open slowly as she turns to face Chloe.

“Chloe?” Max asked sounding sleepy still.

“Yea its me Max.” 

“Were you watching me sleep?”

Chloe turns red in embarrassment before answering. “Yea.”

“Why?” Max asked as she yawned

“Was bored so I decided to come up here.”

“Wheres Rachel?” Max asked as she adjusted her legs.

“Downstairs with my mom.”

“What’re they doing?”

“I dont know. Probably just talking about stuff.”

Max was going to ask more questions but she decided to change the topic.

“What took you and Rachel so long?”

“What do you mean?”

“When me and Rachel entered the house, she said she was gonna check on you and she never came back down.”

“Oh umm...she was helping me with some stuff.” Chloe tells Max with her bad attempt at lying. 

Max some how believes it and shuffles again “Im sorry for making you mad earlier and for....eating your ice cream.” Max tells her slowly and sounding guilty.

“Its ok Maxo. Im sorry for yelling at you.” Chloe tells her as she ruffles her hair. Max giggles and yawns again. “Ish ok Chlo.” Max says as her eyes slowly close again. Chloe then hears her soft little murmurs and smiles. She fixes the blanket for Max and leaves her room. Before she goes downstairs she runs into her mom.

“Mom, is Rachel still down there?

“Yes she is.” 

“You alright?”

“Yea im just tired.”

“Well alright then. Goodnight mom.”

“Goodnight Chloe.”

Chloe starts walking down the stairs and sees Rachel on the couch.

She sneaks behind her and scares her.

“BOO!” Chloe says as she jumps on her.

“Oh shit. Chloe,what the hell!?” Rachel asks as she play fights with Chloe.

“Hahaha!” Is all Chloe gets out as she’s on top of Rachel.

“This isnt funny.” Rachel says as she starts to laugh also. They play fight for a few more minutes until Chloe gets tired.

Chloe gets off of her and catches her breath.

“You should’ve seen the look on your face.” Chloe says while trying not to laugh.

“Screw you asshole.” Rachel tells her while chuckling a little bit.

“So what’d you and my mom talk about while I was upstairs?” Chloe asked as she sits on the other side of the couch.

“I think the question is why did you go upstairs?”

“I asked first.”

“You got me there. All we talked about was Max.”

“Something more specific?”

“Some stuff about when you and her were kids.”

“So nothing that interesting.”

“I like to think it is. Captain Chloe.” Rachel says with a smirk.

“Oh god, she told you about that?”

“Yup but back to my question. What’d you do upstairs?”

“I went up to my room to clear my head about the whole party shit with Max.”

“And?”

“Max woke up and we had a small chat before she passed out again.”

“What’d you guys talk about?”

“We just apologized to eachother for what happened today.”

“Thats good.”

Chloe was about to say something else until Rachels phone started to ring. She pulls her phone out to see who it is.

“Who is it?”

“My dad.” Rachel says as she answers. She stands up answers it. “What dad?”

“When are you coming home?”

“In a little bit why?”

“Just asking.”

“Alright well see you later.” She doesn’t give him a chance to respond and just hangs up.

“What’d he say?”

“He asked when I was coming home.”

“Want me to drop you off?”

“If you can.”

“Of course I can m’lady.” Chloe states proudly as she pulls out her keys.

“Glad to see chivalry isnt dead.” Rachel says as they begin to walk out.

They get into Chloes truck and drive off to Rachels house.

Back with Max...

Max wakes up again and looks around the room. She sees that its completely dark and decides to take out her phone. 

“Wowsers thats bright.” She comments as she covers her eyes a little bit. She sees that its only 8:17 and decides to write in her journal. She peers over the edge of the bed to look for her bag but notices that its not there. 

“Where the...?” She says as she remembers that its downstairs. 

“Well crap.” She says in disappointment but she remembers that Chloe is down there. She tries calling Chloe but to only find out that she left her phone in the room.

“Ughhhhh” Max groans as she gets frustrated. “Where is everyone?” Max thinks.  
Another idea pops into Maxes head,this time she decides to call for Joyce.

“Joyce!” Max calls out loudly

No response

She sighs and gives up as she flops backwards onto the bed. Her stomach rumbles in hunger and she groans in response. “Of course im hungry.” She says angrily as she starts pouting. 

Back with Chloe and Rachel...

“So whats the plan for tomorrow?” Rachel asks

“Probably do what we did today except without Max having a...you know.” Chloe tells her.

“Yea I guess but I was thinking we can just hang out at your house for the day.”

“And do what?”

“Crap I dont know. Like watch a movie or something.”

“Fuck it. We’ll just wing it tomorrow. Whatever happens,happens I guess.” Chloe tells her as she pulls up to her house.

“Thanks for the ride Chloe.” Rachel tells her as she goes in for a hug.

“No problem Rach.” Chloe tells her as Rachel gets out.

She waits until Rachel get into her house and drives off back home.

When she gets home, she notices that David isnt home yet. “Guess step-ass got overtime.” She says to herself as she closes her door and walks inside. She takes off her boots and sees that Maxes stuff is still in the living room. She grabs everything and walks upstairs. She brushes her teeth before going into her room. When she enters, she sees Max on her phone with her earphones on. She turns on the light and gets Maxes attention.

“Am I interrupting something?” Chloe asked as she tossed her beanie onto her desk.

“Oh no, I was just listening to music.” Max tells her as she takes her earphones out.

“I got your stuff for you.” Chloe says as she sets it down next to her desk.

“Thanks Chloe but umm...”

“What?”

“Can you maybe...bring me the leftovers from today?” Max asked sounding nervous as she rubbed her neck.

“Ugh fine.” Chloe says as she leaves.

“Thank you.” Max tells her and Chloe waves back. A few minutes later, Chlow comes back with Maxes fries and nuggets.

“Here you go Max.” Chloe tells her as she hand her the container.

“Thanks again Chloe.” Max says as she starts eating.

Chloe nods and goes over to her closet to change.

“You mind if I change right now?”

Max looks up with food on both sides of her mouth like a chipmunk and shakes her head which gives Chloe a slight laugh before changing into her sleeping wear.

She gets done and walks over to the bed. She was about to get in until she heard Max burp.

“Sorry, excuse me.” Max tells innocently.

Chloe catches a whiff of Maxes breath and tells her “Eew Max your breath stinks.” While holding her nose.

“Is it that bad?”

“Yup. We need to head to the bathroom immediately.”

“But I dont wanna get up.” Max whines.

“Well you have to. Now c’mon.” Chloe tells her as she extends her hands. Max takes them and Chloe lifts her and takes her to the bathroom. She holds Max by her side so she can brush her teeth. Two minutes later, they had back into Chloes room and get in bed.

“Mmmmm. Its so warm.” Max says as she snuggles into the blanket.

“I know it is.” Chloe says as she snuggles in also.

“G’night Chloe.

“Night Max.”


	11. Coming out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Amberfield for the hell of it

The next day...

Chloe wakes up to the ringing of her alarm and shuts it off. She sees that Max is still sleeping, so she decides to go get the water ready for her. She goes to the bathroom and gets the bath ready for Max. After a few minutes of waiting for the water to fill, she goes back into her room to get Max. “Hey hippie. Time to get up.” Chloe says while shaking her.

Max makes a grumble noise in response.

“C’mon, I got your bath ready and if you dont hurry up we’re gonna be late.”

Max grumbles again and Chloe gets impatient.

“You asked for this.” Chloe tells Max as she lifts her up.

“Chloe, what’re you doing?!” Max yells in suprise.

“You wouldn’t get up. So I had to take matters into my own hands.” Chloe tells her as she marches to the bathroom. She sets Max down onto the toilet and asks “Do you need any help getting undressed?”

“Can you help me take off my pants?” Max asked nervously.

Chloe nods and helps Max unbutton them so they can slip off easier.

“Anything else?”

“No I can d-do everything else.” Max tells her nervously

“Max just relax. We’re both girls anyways.” Chloe says hoping to calm her down.

“I know...its just awkward for me still.” Max admits.

“Its been a week. Thought you’d be use to it by now.” Chloe tells her as she watches Max undress.

“You ready?” Chloe asks

Max nods in response and Chloe lifts her up again and puts her in the tub.

“Whoa the water is so warm.” Max says as she relaxes.

“Do you want me to help you wash up?”

“No im fine Chloe.” Max tells her politely.

“Alright, just be sure to shout if your having trouble.” Chloe tells her before leaving.

Max nods and Chloe exits the bathroom closing the door softly. She goes downstairs and sees David and Joyce in the kitchen.

“Morning mom.” She tells her as she turns around.

“Good morning to you sweetie.” Joyce tells her as she goes back to cooking.

“Morning David.” She tells him as she sits down.

“Morning Chloe.” He tells her as he skims through the newspaper.

“Wheres Max?” Joyce asked

“She’s taking a bath right now.”

“Well she better hurry up so you can get ready also.” Joyce says jokingly.

“Ehh it doesn’t matter. We got time.” Chloe says nonchalantly

“You got any plans today?” Joyce asks as she flips a pancake.

“Not really, Rachel said that she wanted to watch a movie over here today but other than that. Nope.”

“Well, I hope you guys dont make a huge mess everywhere.” 

“Mom c’mon, when was the last time I made a huge mess.”

“If I remember correctly, you and Max spilled wine on our old carpet years ago.”

“That doesn’t count.” Chloe says quickly.

Joyce just chuckles in response while getting some plates ready.

“Hope you guys are ok with eggs and bacon for today.”

“Anything you make is perfect Joyce.” David says which makes Joyce blush.

“Bleh.” Is all Chloe says in response to all this.

Joyce sets the plates down and places food on Chloes and Davids as she puts the rest onto another plate in the middle.

Chloe was about to dig in until she heard Max calling her name.

“Chloe!” She hears from upstairs.

“She really picked a bad time to get finished.” Chloe says angrily as she stands up.

Joyce chuckles again and tells her “Dont keep her waiting.”

Chloe groans and walks upstairs to get Max. She opens the bathroom door and sees Max in there with bubbles on her head like a kid.

“Can you help me dry off now?” Max asks while blowing the bubbles.

Chloe laughs a little bit and says “Never change Max. Never change.” Before getting the towel.

Few minutes later, Max gets dried up and Chloe hells her change. Once Max gets done with changing, Chloe tells her “Mom made breakfast. Wanna eat?”

“Yea.” 

Chloe picks Max up and takes her downstairs. She sets her down on a chair and tells her “Im gonna go shower now.”

“Ok.” Max replies as she takes a bite of her food. Chloe goes upstairs and Max is left with Joyce and David.

“Good morning Mr.Madsen” She says to David.

“Morning Max.” He says to her as he sips his coffee.

“So how’d you sleep last night Max?” Joyce asked

“Pretty good. I think I got too much sleep though.” Max tells her while chewing on her food.

“Never such a thing sweetie.” Joyce tells her as she looks at her watch. “Looks like I need to head to the diner.” She says as she goes to grab her bag. “David hon, can you drop me off please?”

“Yea just give me a sec.” He tells her as he gets the keys.

“Alright Max, you and Chloe be safe please.” She says to Max as she gives her a hug.

“Of course Joyce.” Max said cheerfully.

“Thats the spirit. Love you Max.” Joyce tells her before leaving.

“Love you too Joyce.” Max tells her as they leave. Since they left, Max is just left alone with her thoughts.

“Wowsers this food is good.” Max says to herself. She continues to eat until she gets done and feels full. Once she’s done she just sits there as she cant do anything. “I hope Chloes almost done up there.” She thinks to herself. A second later Chloe comes down the stairs. “Miss me hippie?”

“Not really.” Max replies sarcastically.

“Haha very funny. Now lets hit the road.” Chloe tells her as she gets Maxes wheelchair. She loads Max onto it and they go outside to Chloes truck. Chloe helps Max inside and puts her chair in the back. After that, she gets back in and starts driving to Blackwell. The ride there was mostly silent as Max and Chloe would just listen to the music on the radio. When they reached Blackwell, Chloe unloaded Max and her chair and began pushing to the main campus.

They see Rachel sitting on a bench and go toward her.

“Hi Rachel.” Max greets while waving.

“Hi Max.” Rachel greets back as she stands up.

“Sup Rachel.” Chloe greets

“Hey Chloe.” Rachel greets back as she hugs her.

“We miss anything this morning?” Chloe asked

“Nope. You know Blackwell is usually quiet in the mornings.” Rachel tells her.

They talk until the bell rings and they have to get to class. “Alright see you later Rachel.” Chloe says as they kiss

“See you later too Max.” She tells her as she ruffles her hair.

“Bye Chloe.” Max says as she walks away.

“Alright Max its just you and me. You ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then lets go.” Rachel says triumphantly as she starts pushing her. They have some small talk until they reach the halls in which Rachel asks “Max, have you ever been in a relationship before?”

“No...I wasn’t exactly a social person Rachel.” Max tells her sounding embarrassed

“Its nothing to be ashamed about, Max. Im actually suprised, no one has seen interest in you.” Rachel says, trying to boost her confidence. Max blushes and tells her “I can kind of see why....”

“Why?”

“I dont think anyone is interested in dating a...handicapped person.” She says slowly.

Rachel stops pushing her and moves in front of Max.She kneels down to Maxes level and makes eye contact with her. “Max, your disability has nothing to do to with your looks or personality. So just because you can’t move on your own that doesn’t mean your arent the cute,shy,and adorable little photographer me and Chloe are bestfriends with. And besides that, im pretty sure theres boys out there waiting to meet a girl like you.” Rachel tells her while giving a little smile.

Max smiles at her and sniffles before reaching over to give a hug.

“Thanks Rachel.” 

“Anytime Max.” Rachel says as they pull away.

“So you ready to get going again?”

Max nods and Rachel goes back to pushing her.

“By the way Rachel.”

“What?”

“Im not exactly fond of boys...”

“What do you mean? Like you never found one thats your type or?”

“No, I mean that...im gay?” Max told Rachel sounding unsure.

“Oh wow Max...thats just wow.” Rachel said in suprise.

“Yea...” Max chuckles nervously

“When did you find out you didnt like guys?”

A memory flashes through Maxes mind and she blinks rapidly for a few seconds.

“Max?”

“Oh uhh...I dont wanna talk about that right now.” Max tells her slowly.

“Probably related to her accident.” Rachel assumes in her head. 

“It’s alright Max, we all have our reasons.” She tells her.

“Have you told anyone else though?” Rachel asked

“No. You’re actually the first person I came out to.”

“Really?”

“Yea.”

“How come you never told anyone else?”

“I never told my parents because I didnt know how they’d react and I never told Chloe because we never talked about it. Besides, talking with you is easier than talking with most other people.”

“Well im glad to be of service then Max but you should try to tell your parents. They seem really nice and I doubt they’d disown you or something like that.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” Rachel says as they reach their destination. Jefferson greets them and they get to their table hoping the rest of the day will be smooth.


	12. Oops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I wasnt in the best of moods today while typing this out, so if it sucks then I apologize. Hope you guys are having a great week tho :)

During class...

Jefferson was giving a lecture about some of the history of photography. Max was writing down notes and would occasionally talk with Kate. Meanwhile as for Rachel...she was bored out of her mind. She tried drawing in her notebook but she didn’t have the patience for that. She tried talkinh to Max but Max hushed her as she was trying to listen to Jefferson. She groaned in agony as she waited for something to happen. She got what she wanted when Nathan walked into the room.

“Ah Mr.Prescott, I see that you’re that late today.”

“Yea, I had to take care of some stuff at home.” He tells him smugly.

“Very well then, please take your seat.” Jefferson tells him.

Nathan nods and goes to the Vortex table. Rachel looks over there in disgust as she remembers what Chloe told her months ago.

“Rachel? You alright?” She hears Max ask

“Yea why?”

“Because your making a weird angry face.” Max points out.

“Oh uhh...sorry bout that Max. I was just thinking about some things.” Rachel tells her.

“Ok.” Max says as she gets back to work.

The class goes on as usual and the bell rings. Max and Rachel begin packing up until Nathan bangs on the table, getting their attention.

“What do you want?”

“I need to talk to Max.” He states bluntly as he faces her. Max looks away quickly as she doesn’t wanna talk to him.

“And why is that?”

“None of your business Amber.”

“I think it is my business considering she’s my bestfriend.”

“So what?”

“So that means if you’re able to say to it to Max, you should be fine saying it to me also.”

“That makes no damn sense.” He tells her.

She just stares at him with her arms crossed blocking him from seeing Max.

“Alright fine. You win Amber. I would like to apologize to Max about how me and the rest of the Vortex club talked about her yesterday.” He says sincerely.

Rachel doesnt buy his apology and says “What a half-assed apology.”

“Well I wasnt talking to you.”

Rachel was about to say something else until Max grabbed her hand.

“Its ok Nathan. I forgive you.” Max says quietly.

“Max!” Rachel says in shock

Nathan smiles at her and nods before leaving.

“Max, how can you just?” Rachel is shocked she cant even finish her sentence.

“Rachel calm down. He sounded genuinely sorry.”

“Max, he’s full of sh-“ Rachel didnt finish her sentence as she remembered she’s in a classroom.

“We’ll talk about this outside.” She tells Max as she begins to push her.

They make it outside and Max and Rachel are still talking about what happened in class.

“Rachel its not that big of a deal anymore.”

“Wrong! Its a very big deal. Max those Vortex asshole are nothing but trouble! Hell im pretty sure Chloe told you about them yesterday.” Rachel states angrily.

“Rachel I dont see the problem. He apologized.” Max retorts

“Max if I slapped you and said sorry. Would that make everything alright?”

“I guess since you apologized.”

“God damn it Max, you’re not getting my point! Just because someone apologizes, it doesn’t make everything ok again!”

“I know that Rachel.”

“So why are you acting like it does!”

“Because its not a big deal! Im use to people making fun of how I cant walk Rachel. What him and Victoria said didn’t even hurt me!”

“Thats why you were about to cry right?! Thats why I had to wipe off those tears off your face right?! Thats why I had to stand up for you since you cant show any damn backbone!”

Rachel sealed her mouth shut and went wide eyed at what she told Max. Max was looking down at her lap with tears falling down her face.

“Oh crap Max. Im so...ah shit.” Rachel says as she kneels down to Maxes level. She puts her hand on Maxes lap and Max just looks at her in return.

“C-Can you t-take me back in-inside now?” Max asked through her tears.

“Im so sorry Max.” Rachel tells her while trying not to cry herself.

“JUST TAKE ME INSIDE!” Max screams as she hits the arm rest of her chair.

“Whats going on out here?” David asks as he looks around.

“Rachel? Max? What’re you guys doing out here?”

“Sorry David, we just...needed some fresh air.” She tells him while coughing nervously.

“Well it sounded like someone was screaming out here. So I came to check it out.”

“Everythings fine David.”

“Alright if you say so. You two better get to class. I dont want to write either of you up for detention.” He tells them

“Yea ok.” Rachel tells him as she goes back to Max.

Max is still looking down at her lap as Rachel begins pushing her to their next class. The rest of the day was pretty much awkward and silent. Rachel and Max stopped talking to eachother throughout the whole day with Rachel occasionally peeking over at Max in guilt over their argument. It was time for 6th period and Max and Rachel were on their way to see Chloe.

They see Chloe holding the door for them like she did yesterday with a smile on her face. It quickly vanishes and she sees a grim look on Maxes face and a look of guilt in Rachels.

“You guys alright?” Chloe asked, not liking the vibe either of them are giving out. Rachel stops pushing Max but Max pushes herself into the classroom without saying hi to anyone.

“Rachel what the fuck happened?”

Rachel sighs and tells her “I fucked up badly Chloe.”

“How?”

“Me and Max had a stupid argument and I just blew up on her.” Rachel tells her.

“What was it about? And what’d you say anyways?”

“I’ll tell you about it afterschool.” Rachel says before walking into class.

“Fuck.” Chloe says to herself as she walks in wondering what the hell happened.


	13. Stop

The whole class period was nothing but silence between the 3 of them. Chloe would occasionally peer over at Max and Rachel to see whats happening. She looked to her left and saw that Max was leaning her head on her hand sniffling while she was taking notes. She looked to her right and saw Rachel looking extremely bummed out while she taking notes. Chloe decides to talk to her again to find out what happened.

“Rachel what happened?”

“I dont want to talk about that right now Chloe.”

“Can you at least tell me what the argument was about?”

Rachel sighs and whispers back “It was about Nathan.”

“Nathan? Why the fuck were you guys arguing about him?” She whispered as she looked back at Max. She saw Maxes eyes looking at them but they quickly moved back to the front of the class. Chloe slowly looks back at Rachel and Rachel tells her “I told you. I’ll tell you about it when we get you your house.”

Chloe nods and looks back at Max with worry. The period ends and the 3 of them get ready to leave. Chloe gets up to push Max and the 3 of them head to Chloes truck. The ride to Chloes house was dead slient as usual and Chloe was getting worried about the 2 of them.

They make it inside the house and Max asks “Chloe,can you take me to bed?”

“You sure Max?”

Max nods and Chloe takes a deep breath as she looks at Rachel who just sits on the couch. Chloe picks Max up and takes her upstairs to her room. She gets to her room and tucks Max in comfortably. “Do you need anything?” She asked

“No im fine Chloe.”

“Ok. Just be sure to shout if you need something ok?”

Max nods again and Chloe exits the room. She goes back downstairs and sits down with Rachel.

“You ready to talk about it?”

“Yep.”

“Alright so let me get this straight. You and Max had a argument over Nathan?”

“Yup.”

“Why the hell were you two arguing over him anyways.”

“It was because right after first period ended, he came up to talk to Max.”

“Why Max? And the fuck did he have to say to her?”

“He apologized to Max about he and the rest of the stupid Vortex club talked to her yesterday.”

“Something doesn’t sound right.”

“Thats what I thought when I heard his shitty apology and I called him out on it.”

“What’d you say?”

“Pretty much told him how crappy his apology was until Max stopped me from saying more.”

“Why’d she stop you?”

“I dont know and the worst part is...she forgave him.”

“What the fuck why?”

“I dont know thats what I was thinking. It gets worse when we went outside to talk about it and thats when things got even more messed up.”

“Thats when...”

“Yup. Thats when I blew up on her.”

“What did you say that messed up everything?”

“I was just guilt tripping Max the whole time and then I brought up the fact she was crying and I had to say something about it to the Vortex assholes.” Rachel tells Chloe while putting her hands on her head.

“Wait,she was crying?”

“Well not crying but tears were falling.”

“Why didn’t you guys tell me that?”

“Since Max didn’t bring it up, I thought she didnt want you to know.”

“Fuck.” Chloe groans

“Im sorry.”

“No its fine Rachel. Im just confused about Nathan now.” Chloe tells her as she reaches over to hug her.

“Whats the real reason you think he apologized?” Chloe asked.

“I dont know.” Rachel says as she cuddles with Chloe.

They lay together for what felt like an eternity until Chloe decides to try and change the mood.

“You wanna watch a movie?”

“Yes please.”

“Alright, let me get my laptop from my room.”

“Mmk” Rachel tells her as she gives her a kiss on the cheek. Chloe walks upstairs and enters her room. She sees Max sleeping facing the opposite direction of Chloe. Chloe walks in quietly and sneaks her way to her desk to grab the laptop. Before she unplugs it from the charger she turns around as she swore that she heard Max sniffle.

“Max?”

Max doesn’t respond. So Chloe goes back and unplugs the laptop. As soon as she was about to leave,she heard another sniffle. She decided to see if Max was ok this time and tip toed behind her so she can get a view of her face. She saw that Maxes eyes were open and tears were slowly forming.

“Whoa, hey what’s wrong?” Chloe asked worriedly as she gets on the bed and shakes Max.

“N-Nothing Chloe.”

“Max im not dumb. I can tell somethings bothering you.” Chloe tells her softly.

Max doesnt reply and it becomes silent.

“Is it the thing with Rachel?” Chloe asked

Max just shuffles around in place,not answering Chloes question.

Chloe sighs and takes a deep breath.

“Max.” She calls but Max pushes herself further away from Chloe.

Chloe gets angry but controls it and tells Max “I can see that you dont wanna talk right now but when your ready Max. I’ll be here.” Chloe picks up the laptop again and leaves the room,slowly closing the door on her way out.

She goes downstairs and sees Rachel grabbed some snacks already.

“Well I can see you’ve been busy.” Chloe points out as she sees Rachel munching on chips.

“You were taking too long and I was bored.”

“Yea well, I had to talk with Max.”

Rachel drops her bag of chips and asked “What’d she say?”

“Nothing much. She’s still upset about what happened earlier.”

“Crap. I need to talk to her about it eventually.”

“Just give her some time,she’ll come around. Remember our first fight at the junkyard?”

“God dont remind me.”

Chloe laughs and says “Yea well,look where we are now.Happily dating and living life.”

Rachel giggles and says “Guess your right.”

“Now lets find a movie to watch.” Chloe says as she turns on the laptop.

Back upstairs...

Max is silently sobbing in bed,still thinking about the events of today.

“Im just trying to be a nice person.” Max whispers through her tears.

She keeps thinking about what Rachel told her.

“Just because someone apologized, it doesnt make everything ok again Max!” She hears in her head.

She flinches a little bit and another though pops up in her head.

“Max if I hit you and said sorry. Would that make everything ok?!”

The word “hit” triggered something in Maxes mind which made her shift up. She started to pant and whisper “no” rapidly as memories played out in her head.

She remembers going to a party.

She remembers getting a drink

She remembers talking with a guy.

She remembers having to use the bathroom.

She remembers the guy following her.

She remembers...

 

 

 

 

 

Everything.


	14. Remember

Back downstairs,Rachel is laying on Chloe as they watch the movie.

“I still cant believe you chose a pixar movie.” Chloe complains

“Well nothing else looked appealing.”

“But come on,fucking Toy Story. Really?

“You couldn’t pick a movie either.”

“If we kept sc-“ Chloe gets off as they hear a loud bang from upstairs. They sit up and look at eachother wondering what happened. They wait for a few seconds to see if it was nothing...then they heard a scream.

“Oh shit.” Chloe says as she runs up the stairs with Rachel not too far behind.

“Max!” Chloe calls as she bust through the door. 

She sees Max laid out on ground violently crying shouting “NO!” 

Max looks up at her and starts crawling away shouting “GET AWAY FROM ME!” She bumps into one of Chloes drawers and starts clawing at them,looking for something to throw.

Rachel makes it up the stairs and sees what happening. “What the fuck is going on?”

Chloe gives her a look of fear before Max starts throwing things at them.

“Shit watch out.” Chloe says as she drags Rachel out the way.

“Max! What the fuck are you doing!?” Chloe shouts

“GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCHO!” Max shouts as she throws a water bottle.

Chloe notices she ran out of things to throw and charges at Max. She drops to Maxes level and squeezes her in a tight hug,trying to restrain her.

“Max,its me Chloe!” She tells her while shaking her.

“NO! I DONT WANT THIS!” Max shouts as she fights against her grasp.

“Rachel help me out!” Chloe shouts. Rachel runs over to them and squeezes Max in a warm hug.

“Max calm down! Its us! Rachel and Chloe!” Rachel tells Max as she keeps fighting against their grip.

“Let me go. Just let me go.” Max cries as she runs out of strength to fight against their grip. 

She begins whispering “Im sorry.” Which made Rachel and Chloe feel terrible. They both comfort her whispering “Its ok.” As she they look at eachother in fear for Max. Eventually after what felt like forever, Max passed out from exhaustion and they let go. Chloe picks up Max and sets her down on the bed again and looks back at Rachel.

“What the fuck just happened?” Rachel asked in disbelief.

“I-I dont even know.” Chloe says as she looks at Max.

“Is she ok?” Rachel asked worriedly.

Chloe moved to the side of Max and checked her pulse.

“Yea. She’s fine.” 

“What do you think was wrong with her?”

“I dont know. She was so scared of us.”

“She acted like we going to attack her.”

“Why would she think that? We would never-“ A thought peered into Chloes head

“Rachel, we have to read her diary.” She tells her desperately.

“Chloe-“ Rachel gets cutoff by Chloe.

“Rachel,this is probably connected to her accident.”

“I know Chloe but-“

“But nothing Rachel. I dont wanna see Max like this again.”

“How is reading her diary gonna help?”

“Because if we find out what happened to her,maybe we can help her through it.” Chloe explains slowly

“If she wanted to tell us what happened, she would’ve done it by now Chloe.”

“Rachel, she probably is never gonna tell us what happened.” Chloe says as she starts to get angry.

“You dont know that. Besides,your mom already told us what we needed to know about her.” Rachel retorts

“You dont get it!” Chloe yells

“Then explain it better!”

“Im trying to help my bestfriend get through her problems!”

“Theres other ways to help her with this Chloe!”

“Like what Rachel? Wait for who knows how long until she finally feels comfortable to talk to us? Yea fuck that,im gonna fix this problem now!” Chloe says as she gets the diary.

“Oh no you dont.” Rachel tells her as she cuts her off and grabs it.

“Rachel!”

“You’re not helping her like this!”

“Why are you so against me on this?!” Chloe shouts as she tries to snatch the book. Rachel dodges and moves around Chloe.

“Because im the only one with some common fucking sense!” 

“That makes no damn sense Rachel! Dont you wanna help Max?”

“I do Chloe but not like this.”

Chloe takes a deep breath and sighs before calming down.

“Fine. What do we do when she wakes up?”

“We’ll talk to her about this.” Rachel says while pointing out some of the destruction in the room.

“Alright. Help me this stuff?”

“Of course.”

They begin picking up everything that Max threw at them. Once the room is clean they sit on the bed and wait for Max to wake up.

Max slowly starts to blink as she feels someone playing with her hair. Once she fully awakens she sees Rachel looking down at her. “Hey.” Rachel said

“Oh hi.” Max said nervously as Rachel kept stroking her hair.

“How do you feel?”

“I dont know.” Max tells her sounding unsure.

“Its ok.” Rachel tells her.

Chloe is walking up the stairs and calls out “Is Max awake yet?”

“Yea.” Rachel calls back.

Chloe walks into the room with some snacks and sees Maxes head on Rachels lap. She sets down the snacks on her table and asks Max

“You ok?”

“Yea?” Max said sounding unsure.

Chloe looks at Rachel and Rachel just nods back.

“Alright Max. I got these for you by the way.” She tells her as she grabs a bag of chips and water.

“Thanks Chloe.” Max says as Chloe hands her the bag. Rachel sits Max back up so she can eat her food.

Theres a awkward silence as Max eats her chips and she asks “Am I missing something?”

Rachel and Chloe look at eachother for one of them to answer. Chloe decides to do answer for them and coughs before speaking. She puts her hand on Maxes and says “Max.”

“W-What?” Max said sounding anxious.

“What happened?”

“Wh-What’re you t-talking about?”

This time Rachel steps in and says “Max,you know what we’re talking about.”

Max gulps and says “I don’t-“ She gets cutoff by Chloe

“Max. You cant back out of this one. Just tell us what happened.”

“I can’t.” Max says as she closes her eyes

“Yes you can.” Rachel tells her.

Max looks up at both of them and takes a deep breath.

“I had a flashback of the party.” She tells them slowly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I got another pricefield fanfic idea in my head and I just wanted to ask if you guys would be interested in that. Its a online dating AU which will mostly be fluff with some angst. I haven’t worked out the whole plot yet but let me know if you guys/girls would like to see that.


	15. Sinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter messes up with LiS and BTS canon so be ready for that.

“What did you see Max?” Chloe asked

“I can’t-“ She closes her eyes again but gets cutoff by Rachel.

“You can Max. Just breathe in and out slowly. Remember me and Chloe are here for you.” Rachel tells her as she holds her hand.

“Its just hard.” Max whines.

“We know Max but maybe it’ll help if you talk about it.” Chloe tells her as she grabs her other hand.

“I’ll try.”

“Thats good enough for us.” Rachel tells her.

Max takes another deep breath and begins speaking again. “So you guys know about the party already right?”

They nod

“Ok, it all started when I entered the house.”

*Flashback*

“Wowsers this place is huge.” Max thought to herself as she walked in.

“Watch it.” Some guy tells her as he bumps into her.

“Sorry my fault.” Max said to him as he walked away.

“Ok Max this it. Time to mingle for a little bit but where should I start?” She asked herself while looking around. 

“You lost,Max?” She hears her friend Kristen ask.

“Oh umm no. Im just overwhelmed by the place thats all.”

“I know right. This place is massive.”

“You see anyone you like yet?”

“Dog no. We just got here Kristen.”

“Alright I see how it is Max.” 

“Ughhhh.”

“Lets move around. I think I can see some of my other friends near the punch bowl.”

“Lead the way.”

They walk around the house bumping into the other party guest on the way. They get to the the punch area and Kristen says hi to her friends.

“Hey Kristen,whos this?” Max hears one of them ask.

“This is my friend Max from school. Max these are my friends from the school I use to go to.”

“Hi.” Max greets as she gives an awkward wave.

“Nice to meet you Max.” She hears one of them say from the back.

He moves in front of the group to shake her hand.

“My names Elliot.” He tells her as they shake hands.

“N-Nice to meet you too E-Elliot.” Max says nervously while stuttering.

*Flashback ends*

“Wait a fucking minute. Max did Elliot tell you his last name?” Chloe asked sounding furious.

“N-No.”

“What did he look like?”

“He was a tall guy with light brown hair. Why?”

Chloe looks over at Rachel and sees that she’s worried.

“I’ll talk to you about it later just continue with the story.” Chloe tells her as she settles down.

“Okay?”

*Flashback*

“You’re cute when you stutter.” He tells her which makes Max blush and flustered.

“Very suave Elliot.” She hears another girl say from behind him.

“Hi Max, im Kristens friend Jaime.”

“Nice to meet you Jaime.” Max greets

Kristen comes up behind Jaime and whispers something in her ear.

“Hey we’re gonna go walk around for a bit. You two stay out of trouble.” She hears Jaime tell them.

Max was about to say something but they had walked away already.

“So its just me and you.”

“I g-guess it is.”

“Wanna go find a place to talk?”

Max nods and he starts walking to a much more calm area.

Meanwhile in the real world while Max was talking about her past. Chloes mind was in overdrive thinking about Elliot.

“There is no fucking way this is the same guy. The description fits though so its pretty damn possible it is him. I should’ve kicked his fucking ass when I had the chance.” She thought to herself.

Rachel was also thinking about Elliot.

“If this is the same guy that was harassing Chloe,then this piece of shit deserves to get killed.” She thought to herself.

Back to the story...

“So where you from Max?” He asked

“I used to live in a small town called Arcadia Bay.”

“Arcadia Bay? Thats funny because I actually live there.”

“Really?” Max asked as she sips her drink.

“Yea I do. Im only here for vacation for right now.”

“Thats so cool. So how long are you staying here for?”

“A few more days.”

“Awww.” Max pouts

“Come on. Its isnt that bad besides we can still talk if you’d like.”

“Yea i’d...i’d like that.” Max tells him.

He pulls out his phone and asks “Would you do the honors my lady?”

Max giggles puts her number down on his phone.

“Why thank you.” He said to her.

“I think I see Kristen over there.” He says as he points into a different direction.

Max looks over to where he’s pointing and Elliot quickly slips something into her drink.

“I dont see them.” Max points out.

“Oh uhh sorry, I thought that was them.” He tells her.

“It okay. I have that same problem too sometimes.” She tells him as she drinks her drink.

He smiles and asks “So what do you want to talk about now?”


	16. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER.   
> This chapter was extremely hard to write. I apologize in advance if you dont like this chapter and if you dont feel comfortable reading this one,I’ll provide a summary of it in the next one with a less graphic description.

“Wait he drugged you!?” Chloe asked furiously

“Thats not the worst part.” Max chokes out as she starts shaking with tears beginning to form

Rachel notices this puts her hand on Maxes to calm her down. 

“You dont have to keep going Max.”

“No. I made it this far. I think I can finish it.”

Rachel flashes a brief look of concern and Chloe looks back with the same look.

*Flashback*

“Umm I dont know.” Max said to him. She starts grabbing her head as she feels a slight pain in it.

“You ok?”

“Y-Yea of course I am.” She tells him as she starts sweating. “What the hell is happening?” She thought to herself.

“Are you sure? You’re starting to sweat.” He points out.

“I think I uhh need a minute.” She tells him as she pushes past him and looks for the bathroom.

“C’mon where is it? Where is it?” She chants in her head. But behind her,slowly following her is Elliot.

“Stairs! It’s probably upstairs.” She thinks to herself. She pushes past everyone else as her head to starts to hurt even more. She lightly groans in pain and puts one of her hands on her forehead.

She burst into the bathroom and looks into the mirror as she starts feeling tired.

“Whats going on with me right now?” She asks herself while splashing water on her face. She stumbles backwards and almost falls onto the bathtub. “I need to leave.” She thinks to herself.

She gets out the bathroom and sees Elliot standing by the door.

“Oh hey Elliot.” Max nervously giggles

“Max you seem a bit...off.”

“Yea im just tired.” She points out.

“Want to me to take you home?”

“No thats not...thats not necessary.” Max tells him while choking on her words.

She starts to walk down the stairs but Elliot grabs her hand.

“Theres a bedroom here,if you’re feeling tired. I can even watch over you. If you want me to?”

“No really,im fine.” She said while trying to walk away. She notices his grip gets tighter and she looks back at him.

“Elliot?”

He sighs before he pulls Max back up and gives her a long kiss on the mouth.

“Elliot.” Max calls nervously

“Lets go somewhere private.” He tells her sounding lustful.

“I don’t-“

“Yes you do.” He tells Max as he pins her against the wall.

“You’re starting to scaring me.” Max tells him

He grins and starts to push Max into a room. The door open and Elliot throws Max onto the bed. Max starts to backaway but struggles to do so since her body is starting to get tired.

Elliot starts to take his jacket off and Max asked “What-What’re you doing?”

“What usually happens at these parties.” He tells her coldly.

Maxes eyes open wide in fear as she realizes what happening.

“You d-dont have t-to do this.” She tells him as he makes his way toward her.

He grins and jumps onto the bed with Max. He starts giving her neck kisses against her will which makes Max turn red. “This cant be happening.” Max thinks in her head.

She tries to push him away saying “Elliot,I dont want this.”

“Stop resisting Max.” He tells her as he tries to go in for another kiss. Max pushes him away again and tells him “Get off of me!”

“I said stop fucking resisting Max!” He yells as he slaps her. Max becomes frozen in shock and fear as she knows his intentions clearly now.

He gets back to kissing her but Max is trying her best to fight back. “Why am I so tired.” She thought to herself.

“Please stop.” She whimpers out. He doesnt listen and keeps going as he takes off his jacket.

Max looks to her left and sees that theres with glass vase next to her. She notices Elliot is still taking off his shirt and she smashes the vase against his face with all the strength she has left. 

“Ahhhh!” He yells as he drops to the ground. Max stumbles out the bed and tries her best to run out the room but trips on Elliots foot.

“Oh no you dont.” He tells as he drags her back. Max starts panicking and yells “GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCHO!” As she kicks him in the face. Her body goes into overdrive and runs out the room with her vision starting to fade.

Elliot sees that Max is making a break for it and pulls out his gun. “Stupid.fucking.bitch.” He says to himself as he pulls the trigger.

*BANG*


	17. Plans

Max hadn’t noticed she was crying until now when realized that Chloe and Rachel were wrapped around her,giving Max a warm hug.

“This never should’ve happened to you.” Chloe says to her as she’s trying not to cry.

“We’re so sorry Max.” Rachel said in tears.

“H-He tr-tried to-“

“Shhh Its ok,its ok,we’re here.” Chloe cooes into her head repeatedly.

Max starts to choke on her tears until Rachel helps her out.

“We got you Max.”

They sit their in silence comforting her until Max settles down. After a few minutes,Max begins to speak.

“I th-think I want to sleep now.” Max tells them.

“Are you sure?” Chloe asked.

“Yes please.”

Chloe looks at Rachel and she nods in agreement. They let go of Max and Chloe gets her into sleeping position.

“Do you need anything Max?”

She shakes her head.

“Just be sure to call if you do need something. Hell,even if its just to see us ok?” Chloe tells her

“Ok.” Max said quietly. Chloe ruffles her hair again and begins to walk out.

“Sweet dreams Max.” Rachel says to her as they exit the room.

They close the door softly and Chloe marches down the stairs. She goes over to the backyard and sits on the steps,putting her hand on her head in frustration. Rachel opens the screen door and sees Chloe looking visibly upset. She walks over to Chloe and sits next to her and stares and the old swing set.

“I want to fucking kill him.” Chloe said sounding angry

Rachel doesnt say anything but just looks at Chloe.

“I can’t believe this happened to her Rachel.”

“I know.”

“The amount of times I told her to fucking die when she was in Seattle just...fucking hell!” Chloe shouts as she elbows to the of the house.

She throws her beanie down and takes a deep breath.

“I knew Elliot was a fucking asshole but now...now he fucking pushed it. I wish his ass didnt get expelled. Oh the things I would do to that piece of shit. I just wanna fucking strangle him.” Chloe states angrily.

Rachel doesnt say anything again since she’s still at a loss for words after listening to Maxes story. “Never would’ve imagined a sweet girl like that to have such a fucked up past.” She thought in her head.

She snaps out of her thoughts when she hears Chloe sigh deeply. “I wish we were in much more simple times,Rachel.”

“What do you mean?”

“Without problems. Without all this trouble we went through a year or two ago.”

Rachel looks down and contemplates what Chloe said. “She’s right. I wonder what life would’ve been like for us if we just had a normal upbringing.” She thinks

“Like imagine if Max came back normal or screw that. Imagine if she never moved away Rachel. We’d be having a fucking blast.” Chloe says cheerfully. Her mood quickly changes though as he realizes thats only a dream.

“But nope,we get a shitty ass reality where everything is fucked.” Chloe said sounding disappointed.

Rachel was about to say something until she was interrupted by Joyce.

“What’re you two girls doing out here?” She asked peering behind the door.

“Just talking mom.” Chloe said sounding calm.

“Wheres Max?”

“Sleeping.” Chloe told her

“Hey,whats wrong with you two? You guys dont look so happy?”

“We talked about some things.” Rachel answered

“Like?”

“Nothing important.” Chloe answered sounding impatient

“Alright well if you two say so.” Joyce said before walking back inside. Before she closes the door she asks “Rachel,are you staying for dinner?”

“Yes.”

“Mmk. Dinner will be ready in an hour when David gets back so I hope you girls arent too hungry.” She chuckles. She heads back inside and starts getting dinner ready.

Rachel and Chloe decide to go chill on the couch and watch tv to distract them for a bit. They watch cartoons and other random shows on tv for almost an hour until Rachel makes conversation.

“Y’know we still never watched our movie yet.”

Rachel said as she sounding like she was planning something.

“I don’t think now is the right time for movies Rachel.”

“I know but just hear me out on this. We all seemed to have had a tough week right? Especially with all the drama we had these past two days.”

“What’re you suggesting?”

“That we have a day to ourselves dumbo. A whole day of us relaxing without worring about jack shit except getting food.”

“Im on board already but when are we doing this?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Umm we have school,remember?”

“We skip the day. Problem solved.”

“Im pretty sure Max would be 100% against this idea Rachel.”

“But Chloe think about. She’s been through so much crap already these 2 days alone. Not to mention what we heard upstairs too about you know what. We can help her relax and have fun for a change. And besides,I kind of owe her one for being a mean toward her.”

Chloe put her hand on her imagines what it’d be like if she saw Max laughing and having fun like when they were kids.

“Yea fuck it. Lets do it.”

“Knew you’d be on board.”

“But what do we tell my mom?”

“Just tell her that Max isnt feeling well tomorrow in the morning.”

“You sure that’ll work?”

“Yea but you gotta tell Max about it.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Then the front door opens and in comes David. He hugs Joyce and enters the living room.

“Sup step-ass”

“Its been almost like 3 years and you still dont show respect.”

“Cause you haven’t earned mine for these past few years.”

Rachel grabs Chloes hand as a signal for her to calm down.

David was about to scold her until Joyce came in and shut it down.

“You two are not about to argue in this household. Understand?”

“Yep.” Chloe replies.

“David?” Joyce questions

“Yes. Sorry about that Joyce.”

“Good. Now Chloe,go and get Max. Dinners ready.”

Chloe nods and she and Rachel go upstairs to get Max. They softly knock as they enter and see Max peacefully sleeping on her side.

“You wanna wake her up this time or?” Chloe asked.

“Yea I got it.” Rachel tells her.

She slowly walks to the bed and gently starts shaking Max.

“Wake up sleepy head.” She says kindly

“Mmph.” Max groans as she twists her head to the other side of the bed.

Rachel looks back at Chloe,who’s silently giggling next to the door. Rachel looks back at Max with a face of determination and gently shakes her again.

“Theres food downstairs.”

“Okay you win.” Max tells her as she turns around. Rachel flashes a little smile and lifts her up.

They go downstairs and they put Max in her wheelchair so she can move on her own. They gather around the dinner table and look at what Joyce cooked.

“Hope you guys enjoy chicken for this nice evening.” Joyce tells everyone as she sits down.

“Looks great Joyce.” David complimented

“Yea looks great mom.” Chloe mocked as she stared at David. David stared back and a angry tension began to fill the room until Max kindly asked “Can one of you get me a piece please?”

“I got it Max.” Rachel tells her as she reaches over to get a piece out.

Chloe stops staring at David and starts to eat her food. Everything goes smoothly as dinner goes with everyone talking about something.

“So Max,how were your first two days of school?” Joyce asked while wiping her mouth.

“Pretty good. Rachel and Chloe made things easy for me when I got there.”

“Thats good to know honey and how has it been for you two?”

“Boring. Can’t wait until I graduate next year.” Chloe answered sounding dull

“Fun.” Rachel said sounding cheerful

Joyce chuckles and says “Thats good you 3 are getting along perfectly.”

She looks over at Max again and asks

“When are your parents coming around to visit again Max?” Joyce asked

“Oh,they said hopefully by Thanksgiving but if not then Christmas.”

They continue to eat again until everyone finishes their food.

“Chloe,can you grab all the plates for me so I can do the dishes?”

“Yea I got it mom.”

She passes by Rachel and asks “Do you need a ride home?”

“Yea,can you bring me?”

“Yup just let me get finished here.” She tells her as she picks up the rest of the plates.

“Where do you live at Rachel?” Max asked

“Ehh not too far from here. Why?” She asked sounding angry at the girl

“I don’t know. Just curious I guess...” Max tells her innocently

“Im just playing Max. But yea not far from here.” She tells her.

Chloe gets back and asks “You ready to go?”

“Yup.” Rachel said as she stood up

“Can I go?” Max asked

“Of course MadMax.”

They exit the house and go over to Chloes truck. When Chloe opens one of the doors, a thought occured in her head.

“Hey Max?”

“What?”

“We’re skipping school tomorrow.” Chloe says as she puts her into the truck.

“Wait what. Why?” Max asked sounding confused

“You’ll see.” Rachel comments as she sits next to her.

Elsewhere...

“So what exactly are you gonna do wih this Caulfield girl?” Victoria asked curiously.

“Ehh I got bored,so I came up with an idea.”

“Which is?”

“Date her.”

“Date her?”

“I didn’t stutter.”

“I know,I got ears asshole but why do you want to date her?”

“I have my reasons.” He tells her while checking himself out in the mirror.

“Whatever,just dont come crying to me when Amber and Price chase you down with pitch forks or whatever.” Victoria says as she laughs at her own joke.

“Haha very funny Vic.” He says as he turns around to face her.

“How are you even going to get close with her anyways? You said it yourself,Rachel barely even let you talk to her. Dont even get me started on what everyone else at Blackwell will think about this.”

“Trust me on this Vic. I got most of this covered. Just wait until the End of the World party.” He tells her as he smirks.


	18. Relaxation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Fluff chapter to lighten up the mood.

“MAX WAKE UP!” Chloe shouts.

Max whiplashes up into a seating position in panic and asks “Whats happening?!”

“We have the whole day to ourselves remember?” Chloe reminds her

“Are you cereal Chloe? I thought someone broke in or ughh.” Max said as she gets flustered.

“My bad Max.”

“Its fine Chloe. Did you even tell your mom that we’re skipping school today?”

“Yup. Told her before I came up here to wake you up.”

“What’d you even say to her.”

“Said you were sick and that i’d have to take care of you for the day.”

“What’d she say?”

“Doesn’t matter. The point is that we’re gonna have a blast today.”

“Can I at least bathe first?”

“Oh yea...right.” Chloe says to her and brings her to the bathroom.

20 minutes later...

“So whats the plan for the day?” Max asked.

“We’re just gonna chill and...thats about it.”

“Well that’s disappointing.”

“Just watch Max.” Chloe tells her as she puts on Maxes sock for her.

“Let me call Rachel and see if she’s ready.”

Max nods and Chloe walks out the room.

She calls Rachel and the phone rings for a bit before she answers.

“C’mon...”

“Hello?” Rachel said tiredly.

“You can come over now. Parents are gone.”

“Is Max awake?”

“Yep”

Yawn* “Mmmk gimme 20 minutes.”

“Alright see ya then babe.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.” Chloe said as she hangs up.

She walk back into the room and sees Max looking down

“You alright?”

Max looks up and stutters before she speaks. “Oh umm y-yea.”

“You sure? You seem anxious about something.”

“I was just thinking thats all.”

“Max d-“

“Chloe just drop it. Ok?”

“Fine. But you better tell me if you’re actually having a problem. I don’t care how small it is. Ok?”

Max nods in agreement and Chloe sighs.

“We got 20 minutes before Rachel gets here. So lets go eat some breakfast.”

“Do you even know how to cook?”

“I mean I watched mom do it before. So i’d say so.”

Max facepalms and giggles as Chloe lifts her up. They go downstairs and Chloe gets her wheelchair.

“Here you go hippie.” Chloe tells Max as she sets her down.

“Thanks Chloe.”

“Yea no problem.” Chloe said as she pushes Max over to the kitchen.

“Alright Maxo,what do you feel like munching on.”

“Chloe are you s-“

“100% sure I know what im doing Max.”

“Alright then. Can you make pancakes and bacon?”

“This should be easy.” Chloe said as she cracked her knuckles.

“Max,this’ll take a few minutes,so you might as well go watch tv for a bit.” Chloe tells her.

“Ok.” Max said as she pushed herself to the living room. She turns on the tv and puts it on CartoonNetwork. She sees that Total Drama Island was playing so she decides to watch that.

“Of course you’d be watching that.” Chloe comments from the kitchen.

Max playfully sticks her tongue out at Chloe and she laughs in response.

5 minutes later...

“You done yet Chloe?”

“Nope. Just need to finish the bacon.”

“But im hungryyyyy.” Max begs

“Well you have to wait a little longer Maxipad.”

“Eeeww dont call me that.” Max giggles

“Oh come on whats wrong with it...Maxipad.” Chloe teases

“Because its nasty Chloe.” Max laughs.

They continue laughing about it for a whole minute until the doorbell rings.

“That’s probably Rachel. I’ll go get it.” Chloe tells Max as she jogs over to the door.

She opens it and greets Rachel.

“How nice of you to come when breakfast is ready.” Chloe said sarcastically

“You made breakfast?”

“Yea why?”

“Nothing. Just suprised thats all.” Rachel said as she walked in.

“Wait...whats that suppose to mean?” Chloe asked sounding offended as she closed the door.

“Hey Max.” Rachel greets as she hugs the girl.

“Oh hi Rachel” Max hugs back

“Breakfast is ready.” Chloe calls from the kitchen.

“Oh boy, here we go.” Max says as Rachel giggles.

“Wait Rachel,can you turn off the tv for me?”

“Sure thing Max.”

They get to the table and look at the food Chloe made.

“So how’d I do?”

“It looks...great.” Max comments not sounding 100% sure.

“Rachel?”

“Yea...what Max said.” Rachel said with the same tone as Max.

“Alright lets dig in.” Chloe says as she takes a bite.

Max and Rachel nervously smile at eachother,waiting for one of them to try the food. Rachel eventually gives up and tries it out.

“Wow. This actually isn’t bad.”

“Told you.”

Max picks up her knife and fork and slices a piece of the pancake out. She gulps before taking a bite of it and is genuinely suprised by the taste.

“You did pretty decent Chloe.” Max complimented

“Scale of 1-10?”

“Like a 7.”

“Ehh I think your taste buds are just shitty.” Chloe tells her.

“Haha.” Max retorts jokingly.

“No,I think Max is right on this one. Its not that good but it isnt bad either.” Rachel says as she takes another bite.

“Whatever. With your guys shitty taste buds.” Chloe states proudly as she munches on her food which earns a eye roll from Max and Rachel.

They finish breakfast and go into the living room.

“What time is it?” Rachel asked.

“It is...8:37.”

“Wow we have so much time for today.” Max pointed out.

“Yep.” Chloe replied

“So what do we do now?” Max asked

“Eehh lets just binge watch some crap on netflix.”

“Sounds fine with me.” Rachel said

“Max?”

“Yea. That sounds kind of fun.” Max said excitedly.

“Alright,i’ll go get us some blankets. Rachel can you go upstairs and get my laptop for me?”

“Yea I got it.”

Chloe comes back with a big blanket and some pillows for the three of them.

“Alright MightyMax,im gonna move you real quick so I can fix the couch.”

“Whats up with the nicknames?” Max giggles

“Nothing. Just trying to keep you happy.” Chloe says to her as she moves her to the other side of the room.

Chloe adjusts the couch so all three can lay down on it. Then Rachel come back down with Chloes laptop.

“Here you go.”

“Awesome. Now its time to look for shit to watch.”

The three of them look at the couch and have to pick where they want to sit.

“I call middle!” Rachel say as she flops onto the couch.

“Aww I wanted the middle.” Max pouts.

“We can switch if you want?”

“Its fine Rachel. Chloe can you help me?”

“Yea I got you.” Chloe says as she lifts her up.

“Alright Max. Left or right.”

“Left.”

“Ok.” Chloe says as places her down.

Chloe goes to her side and puts the blanket over all three of them.

“You guys warm?”

“Yep.” They responded

“Rachel,hold the laptop since you’re in the middle.”

“Ok.”

They begin looking for a show or movie to watch which ends up taking longer than expected...

“I am not watching Breaking Bad.” Rachel complains.

“Well,im not watching The Walking Dead.”

They argue back and forth about their shows until Chloe drags Max into into it.

“Max,which show sounds better to you?”

“I was thinking that we can watch a disney movie.” Max said shyly

“Oh you gotta be fuc-“

Minutes later they began watching Up.

“I can’t believe we agreed to this.” Chloe complained.

“Exac-“

“SSSHHHH! The movies starting.” Max whispers to them.

They look at eachother in confusion and look back at Max whos staring intently at the laptop screen. Rachel shakes her head and shrugs it off before she starts focusing om the movie. Chloe on the other is smiling because of Maxes reaction.

“Still a kid at heart. Arent you Max?” She thinks to herself.

The first 10 minutes of the movie have gone by and Max was already emotional.

“Max, are you ok?” Rachel asked as she wrapped her arm around the girl.

“Yea,its just...its just the first part of the movie always gets me.” She tells her while wiping her tears.

Rachel looks over at Chloe and sees that she is about to start tear up also. Chloe looks at her and asks “What? I got allergies.”

Rachel playfully punches her and goes back to watching the movie.

An hour later...

They finally finished the movie and Chloe gets up to stretch.

“Finally.” She says as she stretches to the side.

“Im gonna go get some snacks from the kitchen. You guys want anything?”

“Can you bring some cookies?” Max asked politely

“And some milk while you’re at it.” Rachel adds.

“How the hell am I suppose to bring all this to you guys?”

“I don’t know but we’re sure you’ll figure it out.” Rachel tells her which makes Max laugh.

Chloe puffs and walks away into the kitchen getting their snacks. In the living room, Max and Rachel are looking for another movie to watch.

“What do you wanna watch now Max?” Rachel asked while scrolling through the movies.

“You guys can pick since I picked last time.”

“We’ll just wait for Chloe to get back then.”

Max nods and they wait.

With Chloe...

She gets 3 cups and a bag of Chip Ahoy from her secret stash cabinet

“There we go.” She says as she fills the cups up with milk. She brings two of the cups back over to Max and Rachel.

“Here you go.” She said as she hands them the cups.

“Thanks Chloe.” Max said

“Yea thank Chloe.” Rachel says

“No problem.” She tells them as she goes back to the kitchen to grab her drink and cookies

She gets back to the couch and lays down in her spot again.

“Here’s your cookies Max.”

“Yessss finally.” She says as she opens the bag.

“You guys pick anything yet?”

“Nope. We were waiting for you to get back before we pick.”

“At this point I don’t care what we watch.”

“Fuck it then. Im in the mood for some action so lets watch...The Purge.”

“The Purge? Whats that.”

“Fucking chaos Max. Thats pretty much what it is.” Chloe answers.

“Oh.” Max said sounding disappointed.

Rachel starts to the movie,so they lay back and relax. The first 30 minutes of the movie were alright with the 3 of them paying close attention to the story. Then this one scene in the movie makes Max really uncomfortable. Its of the daughter and her boyfriend having a make out session which begins to escalate quickly into...you know what.

“Umm Rachel...can you maybe like...skip forward a little bit.” Max asked uncomfortably as she hid from behind the blanket.

“Whats wrong Max? Can’t handle it?” Rachel asks jokingly.

Chloe punches her softly and whispers angrily “Rachel. Remember what happened yesterday.”

Rachels face turns into a look of realization as she realizes why Max felt this way.

“Oh crap Max. Im sorry, I wasn’t paying attention a-.” Rachel said quickly.

“Look its fine Rachel. Just be more cautious next time.” Max tells her slowly

Rachel nods slowly and everything goes back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been reading other LiS fanfics and now I want to make an Amberfield one. I don’t know if I will or not considering I have to focus on 2 stories already but I might write it after this story is wrapped up.
> 
> I have also began rewrites for my other fanfic “New Life” The story will be drastically changed with the only thing staying the same is the plot as I read the story again and I was extremely overwhelmed with the flaws with it. Might change the title of it while im at it.


	19. Dishonest

The girls end up watching movies throughout the rest of the morning until they stop at 2:00pm

“I need to get off this couch.” Chloe comments while stretching.

“What time is it?” Max asked as she starts stretching also.

“It is...2:00”

“Damn already? Shit we should get out of the house. Im bored.” Chloe suggested

“Where should we go?”

“Anywhere but here.” Chloe replies while fixing her beanie.

“We can try going to American Rust.”

“With all the crap that happened there, I don’t wanna see that place anytime soon. Besides I don’t think it’s exactly wheelchair friendly. No offense Max.”

“None taken but whats American Rust?”

“Used to be our home away from home but shit happened and yea.” Chloe summarized

“Well thats very...descriptive...” Max slowly said

“We usually don’t like talking about what happened back then Max.”

“Oh...” Max said,feeling extremely hurt.

“We should try going to the lighthouse.” Chloe suggested

“Haven’t been there in a while.” Rachel points out.

“Max?”

“Yes sure. Always wanted to go up and take pictures there.” Max said while trying to cover up her hurt feelings.

“There might be a problem though.” Rachel points out

“Which is?”

“Well not really a problem but more like an inconvenience. Would we even be able to get Max to the top?”

“Theres a little pathway there for her so i’d say so. Its bumpy but we should be able to.”

“Then lets go.” Rachel says as she hops off the couch.

“Alright Max, you ready?”

She nods and Chloe places her in her wheelchair.

They walk outside after fixing the house and go over to Chloes truck. They get inside and start their little road trip to the lighthouse. The car ride was pretty silent for the most with Chloe and Rachel having a small conversation while Max was left silent in her own little world.

“We usually don’t like to talk about what happened back then Max.” She hears in her head from the conversation earlier.

“So I tell you guys about the sick asshole who tried to rape me and fucked over my life completely but you can’t even tell me about some crap that happened at what sounds like a damn junkyard.” Max argues in her head furiously.

“Maybe something worse happened.” A voice argued

“Like what exactly?” Max argued

“Something.” A voice replied back.

She argues back in forth inside her head for a little until she hears someone call her name.

“Max?” She hears one of them call

She snaps back into the real world and looks around.

“Woah there BatMax. You okay?” Chloe asked from the other side.

“Yea I was just uhh...thinking.”

“You sure you’re okay? You were sort of scratching yourself while doing so.”

She looked down at her left wrist and saw that it was red.

“Oh, guess I didn’t pick up on that. But anyways im fine.”

“Are you 100% sure Max?” Rachel asked again

“Positive.” Max coldy replied which earns a weird look from Chloe and Rachel.

They finally make it to the bottom of the lighthouse and Chloe parks her truck. They get out and help Max into her chair again before moving forward.

“Alright Max. This ride is about to be bumpy as hell.” Chloe warns

“Lets do it.” Max said as they walk up.

After what felt like forever, the trio finally made it up the pathway and went over to the bench.

“The view here is better than I imagined.” Max awed in amazement

“You know what that means.” Rachel tells her.

“What?”

“A photoshoot.”

“Oh god.” Chloe jokingly commented from the bench.

“Hate on it all you want Chloe but with a view like this and a photographer like Max just creates perfection. Right Max?”

“Yep.”

“Lets do this thing.”

Rachel stood near the edge of the cliff doing different poses while Max was taking pictures.

“Rachel, can you slow down? The pictures take a few seconds to develop between photos.”

“My bad.” Rachel says

They continue taking pictures until Rachel gets another idea.

“We should take a group picture here.” She tells them as she points at a spot.

“Pictures aren’t really my thing Rachel.” Chloe tells her

“Quit being a butt and just get over here.”

Chloe sighs before saying “Fuck you.” While walking over.

“Here Chloe.” Max hands her the camera.

“What’re you giving me this for?”

“To take the picture since you’re the tallest duh.” Rachel tells her

“No need to be a dick about it.” She says sarcastically

“So how do I do this Max?”

“Just press the button on the top when you think you got a good angle.”

“Boy that sure helps.” She jokes

She aims the camera high amd begins counting down.

“3...2...1...snap”

The picture gets taken and Chloe hands the camera down back to Max.

“Here you go hippie.”

“Thanks.” Max said as she took the photo out.

Rachel and Chloe go back over to the bench while Max takes a close look at it.

“What the...”


	20. Announcement

Alright so quick little announcement. I’d like to say sorry real quick for not updating this story in a while. The reason behind it is because im kind of stumped on where to even take the story. I mean sure I have the whole little thing with Nathan but trying to set that up was more difficult than I originally had imagined. So if you guys/girls have any other ideas on where I should take the story to, please comment them down below. Anyways thats all I have to say and I hope you guys/girls enjoy the rest of your day. :)


	21. HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT

HUGE NEWS EVERYONE!!! I HAVE DECIDED TO RESTART THE STORY!!! I know you may or may not be upset by this strange occurrence but its for a good reason. I have been pondering with many ideas on where to take this “current story” but nothing stuck. I seemed to have hit a brick wall when trying to progress further into it. I also delved into the chapters again and was taken back by how rushed everything was. There was too much happening in such a small amount of time and especially rereading that wild card chapter with the time travel, it was just a huge ball of mess. The final nail I think was when I read some of the reviews. They were all extremely positive (suprisingly) and most of the actual criticism of my story seemed to have to the same idea that I do. Too fast with so little time. So now “To Feel Again” will come back as a reimagined work. The same premise of a handicapped Max but very different plot. I have the first chapter in the works already and its going to be LONG (Thats what she said) Its looks like it’ll end up being 5000-8000 words possibly. And with this reimagining, I hope you enjoy it as I plan to make this story amazing. Peace out.


End file.
